The Thin Line
by soggy noodle
Summary: Between love and obsession, between devotion and madness, there is a thin line. And she has crossed it. With a smile on her face. - Rated M for dark subject matter, language, violence, Yandere!Character and other adult themes.
1. Chapter 1

**Obviously, what you're about to read is AU. Parts in this work that deviate from canon are attributable to that. Needless to say, at least one of the characters will be a bit OOC.**

 **Also, I really feel it should be said that this story falls into more than just two genres: it actually would be best described as tragedy/horror/mystery/romance.**

 **Now, this is an idea that's been in my head for years now and I've yet to read a story where anything like it has been written. That isn't to say fanfics that delve into the subject matter that this will do not exist, merely that I haven't read any.**

 **When I first started writing this** **, this story was only going to be two chapters in length... well, after speaking with some reviewers, I've come to see a few ways this can go beyond just that.**

 **Needless to say, readers, this will get dark. Aside from violence and harsh language, it will also have graphic depictions of a sexual nature that will straddle the rape and non-consensual line at times, so if that offends your prudish sensibillities, I give you permission to press that Backspace key and sod the hell off.**

 **If you are still reading and find yourself 'offended' by anything written past that warning, your flames and ire will instead serve as inspiration to write more.**

 **To all else, enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass or any of the characters listed in this piece; it is merely a sandbox that I am playing in and I earn no profit from this work other than the thrill of knowing others have read it.**

* * *

¨`-.-´¨

He is tireless, my Beloved, my sweet Lulu; once more He returns from danger and stands before me.

Well, before us, in the Student Council meeting room.

As He begins to elaborate on His latest truancy at the behest of that irritating blonde, He believes His true whereabouts to have been unknown to us, unknown to me.

But I am not deceived. How could I be? I know Him best, after all.

I first caught a glimpse of His true self, years ago; not the facade He tries to sell now - that of the aloof, lazy, irresponsible student - but the real Him.

Back then, He didn't know I was there - watching Him - but that's no different than now; I always steal a glance when I know I can.

Other times, I just stare at Him and lose track of time.

Even now, He has my full attention as He speaks; the sound of His voice - even as He spins a web of falsehoods - is so gentle, so warm... so very titillating; its timbre colored by His kindness, His confidence, His intelligence.

Unsurprisingly, my sex clenches and tingles in response to it, in response to Him - as it always does. I wet my lips with the tip of my tongue as I repress a delicious shudder while a familar heat blooms below as well as upon my cheeks.

The light dusting of redness I no doubt am sporting is ignored by the others, of course, as it is a rather common occurance for me. They believe the cause to be related to something other than it is.

I offer a small and shy smile to my dearest Lulu - the innocence of the gesture belying my far from innocent thoughts of what I wish He was doing to me and I to Him - as even now He continues to spin His latest lie. I do not begrudge Him His dishonesty as He apologizes for His absence. He has His reasons. The others in the room - including that BITCH who does nothing more than sit on the sidelines and yet thinks she deserves all His attention... they hear Him and accept His excuse.

As do I.

I, after all, know the truth of it and where He actually was. A wire tap in His phone and a trojan in His laptop made sure of that.

Because of them, I knew where He went two weeks ago. Back then, by the time He returned to us - to me - I had already forgiven Him for what He'd done. I could put the pieces together; the timing of the events over that day matched up. I had felt a sympathetic surge of remorse that He had once more been responsible for the taking of lives, but in the end, even though one such death hit 'closer to home', it had been comparatively insconsequential.

After all, my Beloved, my Lulu was still alive and He had returned.

To me.

That's all that matters.

The other lives lost, regardless of the who, are irrelevant. They shouldn't have been in His way.

Like that 'friend' of His. That damn traitor to his own people. I heard their rooftop argument later in the recording from the mic I had sewn into the lapel of His uniform.

And after what my Lulu did for him? How _dare_ he?!

I was a witness to it when it went down - it was on the tele; my Beloved risked His life for him! And that _ingrate_ repays Him by later deriding His ideals?

No one spurns my Lulu's kindness and gets to walk away from it.

Some antifreeze in his sports drink saw to that.

And due to his nationality his death wasn't heavily investigated, though I bet his benefactor was torn up.  
Oh well.

That was weeks ago.

Back to the now.

My Lulu continues to weave His untruths because He believes others are incapable of understanding or accepting His aims and the lengths He will go to achieve them.

That _I_ would not understand or accept His aims or the lengths He will go.

With the others - even that BITCH - His caution is prudent.

With me, His concerns are touching, but misplaced.

I know He seeks to spare me the truth, to let me live in ignorance and - for a duration of nearly two months - I have allowed Him to believe that illusion had me fooled; He crafted it out of kindness, after all. It would have been the height of cruelty for me to have rejected such a gift from Him - to reject any gift from Him, my Beloved.

I could never have done that to Him. Not outright.

Never.

Still, as His explanation for His latest absence draws to a close and the pulsing heat below and tightening coil within me begets a slick moistness due to my ever-so-slightly shifting thighs, I cannot help but think upon the conclusion I arrived at just when He returned from that excursion of His, two weeks ago.

At any point, He could be lost to me. Therefore, the time for facades needs to come to an end.

For His sake.

For mine.

For _us_.

He wasn't the only one who living a lie, after all. There are things about me He doesn't know.

For instance, how I use my 'fainting spells' as cover for my silent climaxes - of how thoroughly I ruin my panties in my shameful emissions due to His voice, His proximity, His scent.

And then there was the other, larger deception; of which no one would believe I was capable.

But, there are steps that need to be taken before we can be together the way we always should have been; certain obstacles that need to be removed so the perfect mood and setting can be established... I can only hope the oppurtunity presents itself, soon.

Soon...

And when that time comes, I will approach Him when He is most receptive, so that He won't panic when the veil of mutual deceit is lifted; I will expose Him to the real me, not the me everyone thinks they know.

And He'll accept me. I know He will.

He _must_.

My heart flutters and my breath quickens as I bite back a moan, disguising it as something else as I suck gently on the inside of my lower lip, feeling an orgasm rush through me, fueled by my anticipation for our future and the image of Him as I breathe in His scent as He sits nearby.

Yes, soon...

But first...

That BITCH, that SLUT who believes that she - the unworthy filth that she is - deserves to horde His affection...

She needs to _go_.

¨`-.-´¨

As the Student Council called it a day, the ever cheerful President - Milly Ashford - spoke to her rising minions.

"Not so fast, my subjects!" she began, causing the halt of her cohort, "The poster for the Inner Animal Unleashed Dance still needs to be put together!" her gaze fell on the council's resident orangette and most artistically inclined member, Shirley Fenette.

A part of Milly hated herself for putting more on the girl's shoulders after the recent loss of her father two weeks prior, but she had a plan to turn this into something more for her friend, something to help her move past her poorly concealed depression - and that plan involved pushing her into the arms of a certain undercover former royal; someone the poor girl had been crushing on for years now.

And step one of that plan was getting them alone.

Unknowing of the golden haired heiress's machinations, the singled out girl seemed to come out of a fog, before she blinked and pouted slightly, blushing.

"But Miss President," Shirley began, "I have to put in practice for the swim meet coming up!"

"Oh, pish posh!" the flaxen bombshell denied, "We all know you're a shoe-in to claim first place!" the blonde's twinkling eyes swiveled to her next target, "Isn't that right, Lulu?"

The raven-haired Ice Prince of Ashford Academy just cocked a brow before turning to the still protesting girl. Were he just an average teenage boy, the complicated emotions he felt regarding and for the young orange haired woman would've been expressed clearly on his face; after all, it was due to his negligence and arrogance that had led to her losing her father.

Lelouch Lamperouge, however, was not an average teenage boy.

"Absolutely," he said with a small upturn of his lips, a smile that was as much a lie as his surname, "You have my full confidence that you'll claim victory for Ashford's Swimming Club once again, Shirley."

The orangette goggled and flushed profusely, shifting in her seat as she seemed ready to sputter denials - denials the Queen, err, President wasn't having any of.

"Well, how about if you had some help?" the blonde put forth, her eyes swiveling back to the ravenette, practically licking her chops as she felt Operation ShirLulu coming together.

Managing to curb her rising tizzy, Shirley squeaked out, "Well, maybe... I guess if we worked quickly, I'd still have time to head to the pool..." her eyes moving to Lelouch.

Catching the non-verbal question, the Black Prince spoke with honest guilt, "I'd love to help, Shirley, but unfortunately I have a meeting with some clients I need to be getting to."

And he did, though his meeting was less with 'clients' and more along the lines of 'pawns', in the form of his alter ego's growing faction. After what went down at Narita, 'Zero' was due to meet with his Black Knight's inner circle (after two weeks' time laying low) to go over their losses and begin laying the groundwork for his latest plans. While he was at it, he'd check on the repairs to their sole seventh generation Knightmare Frame - the Guren Nishiki - which had sustained surprisingly negligible damage in its victory over the Lancelot.

Her grand scheme falling to pieces, Milly kept a scowl off her face as she looked at each of the other council members.

The mousy verdette Nina Einstein was unfortunate enough to meet the President's gaze and she eeped before stuttering her own response, looking at the slightly forlorn Fenette, "I-I'm sorry, Shirley. My folks, they just came in yesterday from the homeland." she said, "We're going out to eat tonight and I have to leave early t-to get ready."

Before the pouting golden haired mistress of the council could turn her imploring gaze on her next target, Kallen spoke up, "I won't be able to pitch in, either." she said softly in her sickly-persona, meeting Shirley's eyes briefly and unknowingly feeling just as much guilt as one other in the room, but not bothering to cover it up, "I'd like to, but my father is holding a function I'm required to attend."

Being a member of Zero's inner circle meant her presence was required at the assembly later that night, which necessitated her lie to the girl she felt she wronged personally, and the ace of the Black Knights was none at all happy about having to do so; it was just another sin added to her shoulders. The redhead's sense of responsibillity stemmed from the fact that she was the one who triggered the landslide that buried the nearby town the orangette's father apparently worked in.

While the mission could be looked at as a victory due to the overwhelming number of enemy Knightmares destroyed, both in the landslide and personal combat, the Black Knights still had failed in their primary objective of capturing Cornelia li Britannia. She managed to slip away with the aid of a Pure Blood Knightmare Frame fighting a retreating action.

In Kallen's mind, the only notable thing that came of her time on the mountain was eliminating that damn white Knightmare Frame and even that she couldn't be entirely satisfied with as its destruction was less about her own prowess with the Guren Nishiki and more along the lines of how lacking she found her opponent - their response time was far slower and their maneuevers uninspired; it wasn't at all like back in Shinjuku.

It was almost as if it was an entirely different pilot.

Or maybe the Guren really was that superior? She tried to clear her head; Kallen really didn't handle depression well; it always bled into her temper. So, taking a deep breath, she figured she'd channel her anger appropriately at the meeting.

By taking it out on Tamaki.

The President's blue eyes locked onto the council's most unreliable member, Rivalz Cardemonde, imploringly. Unsurprisingly, she was let down when he spoke.

"Geez, any other day Shirley, but I got called into work a double shift tonight! The girl I'm covering for came down with something." the bluenette spoke with easily read honesty - the boy couldn't tell a lie to save his life; making and giving excuses was Lelouch's job for whenever the two skipped class to stick it to nobles in a game of high stakes chess.

Before the blonde could sigh and consider attempting to scuttle her own plans for the evening with her grandfather for the sake of the friend she had inadvertently thrown under the bus, another voice spoke up.

"Um," the strawberry blonde haired Nunnally Lamperouge began from her wheelchair, on the opposite side of her brother as the girl saddled with afterschool council work, "I don't have anything to do this evening. I was able to finish my assignments in class, so I don't have any homework and it would just be Sayoko and I until brother comes home. I'd be glad to help you, Shirley." she said with a serene smile.

A collective smile was born on all the faces of the Council at that. Nunnally, despite her disabilites in the form of blindness and lameness, could always be counted on to be there for the others in need.

"Are you sure?" the orangette asked in reply.

"Of course," she stated, speaking softly, "I may not be able to see the designs you think up, but if you describe them for me I can give you my opinions."

"Thanks, Nunna!" Shirley said, rising to her feet and giving the smaller girl a gentle hug, "With your help, I know we'll get that poster done in record time!"

"Right," Milly said, casting one last rather unfair glare at Lelouch who missed it in lieu of watching his sister with a genuine smile on his face. Seeing her attempt at spite fail, the blonde then looked from Nunnally to Shirley, "Well, while I'd like to make a girls' night of it with you two, grandfather wants me to assist in one of his buisness dealings. And by assist I mean yours truly will have to suffer a few boring hours with clients in order to 'learn by example how to act as the next head of the company'." she put the back of her hand over her eyes while tilting her head back, feigning a sniffle, "The woes of being an heiress."

Dropping her little display, she concluded, "I suppose that's it for today then, my dear servants. See you all next week!" she looked to the two who would be staying behind, "Have fun in my stead, you two."

And with that, the five who had other plans rose from their seats to head out. Lelouch, after picking up his bookbag, turned to the two would-be remaining girls before leaning in to plant a soft kiss on his sister's forehead, causing the younger girl's already present smile to brighten.

"Take it easy, Nunnally."

"I will, brother." she said, still smiling.

The ravenette turned his gaze to Shirley, whose eyes were not on his but on his lips before she seemed to realize what she was doing and promptly moved her eyes away while her face did an impression of a radioactive tomato.

"And you too, Shirley." he said with a small grin.

"I-I will, Lulu." she squeaked out, "take care at your meeting."

With a small nod, the young man who wore several masks turned and left, leaving the two girls to their work.

Unbeknownst to him, it would be the last time he saw one of them alive.

¨`-.-´¨

How fortuitous that this oppurtunity just drops into my lap!

I feel I should be thankful. But to whom? A higher power, perhaps? Maybe...

If I actually believed in a higher power, then I would have to say that he or she obviously approves of my moving forward with my Beloved.

Then again, it's not as if it would matter if such an unlikely entity disapproved. After all, if he, she - or it - tried to interfere, I would find a way to do to them what I am going to do to this BITCH.

But I digress. As we begin to work on the inane task left behind by the blonde trollop, I push a lock of hair behind my ear as I ruminate on just which method I will use to set destiny in motion.

Painful? Or clean? There are several ways to go about this, but it all starts with dosing her with what I've been keeping in the pocket of my skirt, in case an occasion such as this should present itself.

Regardless of which, the path to Him will be paved.

I swiftly arrive at my answer. The method is right before me.

I smile serenely as we make small talk.

The BITCH will die bleeding.

Now all I need to do is wait...

¨`-.-´¨

It was about an hour and a half after both member and junior member of Ashford's Student Council had been left to work on the poster for the latest idea of its irreppressible President, when fatigue began to show on the younger Lamperouge's features as she yawned lightly, covering her mouth.

"You okay, Nunna?" Shirley asked, looking up from their mostly completed work. She had been using an exacto knife to carefully cut images of animals and clothing off of models from magazines then glueing them such that the animals appeared to be wearing said clothes, arranging them as if they were dancing with each other.

"Mmm..." the strawberry blonde girl said a tad sleepily, "A little tired, but I can keep going."

The orangette stopped for a moment, narrowing her eyes while worrying her lip before perking up, "I know, how about we take a break and have some tea." she said, setting the knife down and pushing away from the table while stretching out in the process - clearly in preparation to rise in order to prepare the hot beverage.

Just as the orangette was getting to her feet, Nunnally spoke past another yawn - once more covering her mouth demurely, "That sounds lovely. Sayoko?"

"Yes, Mistress?" the maid, Sayoko Shinozaki, spoke up as she stepped away from the wall with nary a sound, startling Shirley in the process. It was clear that her presence in the room had been entirely forgotten.

"Could you prepare two cups of tea, please? Some Valerian Root would be nice." the princess incognito said with a small and tired smile.

Speaking up quickly, Shirley cut in, "That's alright, Nunna, I could make us some."

With her eyes closed, it was hard for the younger girl to properly get her incredulous look across to the older girl, but she somehow succeeded in doing so, arching her brows just so, "While I appreciate your offer, Shirley, I also recall the last time you were in the kitchen." she said with a small smirk, barely holding in her mirth.

The orangette held back a wince even as her brow twitched at the memory of the last time she tried to put the cooking facilities to use - she had tried to put together a lunch for herself and Lelouch in the form of sandwiches but it ended in disaster when she nearly burnt the place down.

Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but the stovetop was a bit blackened for her trouble.

Why the use of a stove when putting together a finger food was necessary, even Shirley herself couldn't say - still, once the reason behind the sudden yet miniscule conflagration was identified, the orangette found herself banned from food preparation by the same young man she intended to dine with.

Of course, Milly had caught wind of this and ribbed her appropriately. Which is to say, ruthlessly.

"Still... tea is a simple thing!" the senior council member insisted, "I can easily prepare-"

"Your tea," Sayoko said, appearing just as silently as she had the first time from the Student Council meeting room's attached kitchen, a silver tray laden with two filled teacups in hand.

The orangette blinked, "That was quick." she said as the nimble maid placed the tray down on the table near the two girls.

"The water was still quite warm from the last batch made," Sayoko said with a genial smile before turning to the younger Lamperouge, "Will that be all, mistress?" she asked.

"Yes, thank you Sayoko." the junior council member replied as she stretched as much as she could in her wheelchair.

"Very well." she replied before sliding up the sleeve of her uniform to glance at her watch, "I need to run a quick errand for the young master but I should be back in fifteen minutes," she looked to Shirley, "Can I count on you to continue keep the young miss company, Miss Fenette?" the brunette inquired.

The so-named orangette blinked once more before smiling, "Of course. She's in good hands." she said as she sat back down.

The maid bowed respectfully and departed the room, shutting the door behind her.

The two each took their cups from the tray, the younger girl inhaling the scent of the brew before taking a sip as the orangette watched her placidly before taking a sip of her own.

"Hmm," the strawberry blonde girl began, "it's a tad bitter."

"Really?" Shirley said after a sip, "I kind of prefer it like this. Should I go grab the sugar?" she offered with a smile.

"Would you, please?" Nunnally asked with a cutely raised brow.

"Sure Nunna." the orangette said, rising to her feet and heading off to the kitchen.

The younger Lamperouge couldn't help herself as she quipped while the older girl departed the room, "And please don't burn the place down this time!" she said with a light giggle.

"I'll try not to, Nunna!" Shirley replied from beyond the doorway.

¨`-.-´¨

You stupid BITCH.

Everything is going my way! Even the maid has been removed as a factor! I didn't even have to go with the ruse I had quickly thought up to get her out of the room, which actually could've been rather damning once things are said and done.

But no matter.

Now that I'm alone, I am able to gather what I need to see to the little SLUT's removal.

I just take this... grind it up... and add it to that... there.

I smile once more, though it's a smile I'm sure could only be described as vicious.

¨`-.-´¨

A half a minute later, Shirley came back in from the kitchen with the sugar bowl, setting it down on the tray the two cups had been on.

"Need me to add the sugar for you, Nunna?" the orangette asked.

"I'd hate to be a bother..." Nunnally dithered.

"You're never a bother, Nunna!" Shirley assured, "How many spoonfulls?"

"Two would be lovely, Shirley." the princess-in-hiding replied as her fellow council member scooped some of the sugar from off the top of the mound in the dish into her cup then stirred it, placing the spoon back on the tray.

Nunnally brought her tea to her lips and sipped, smiling slightly, "Mmmm, much better. Thank you, Shirley."

"You're welcome." she replied, sipping her own tea.

The two were quiet for a few moments, just enjoying the ambiance - the only disturbances being the light sounds of the slurping of the warm beverage, the clink of tea cups resting on the table and another light yawn from the yougest Lamperouge.

When both had nearly finished their respective cups, Shirley spoke up - a somewhat gloomy expression on her face and a small hitch to her voice, "You know, this is about the most at peace I've felt since..."

Nunnally placed her cup down on the table and placed her hands in her lap, obviously giving Shirley her complete attention.

"Since dad..." Shirley began, a tear welling up along the edge of one of her eyes.

Nunnally tentatively reached out with one of her hands toward Shirley and the orangette lightly grasped it, holding it gently.

The two remained quiet a bit longer, the amicable silence being the girls' company as the younger girl offered the older wordless comfort.

However, the lack of discussion combined with the comfortable atmosphere seemed to turn their break in the opposite direction of its initial intent as a light dozing could soon be heard.

¨`-.-´¨

I roughly seperate our hands as I scrutinize the BITCH sitting across from me as she snores, my eyes looking her up and down. My glare settles back on her face; my eyes boring into her shut eyelids.

I look away from her as I rise from my chair, my eyes sweeping to the knife on the table. Its silvery blade catches the light. Its calling to me and I answer it, taking it into my hand.

I don't have much time, but I know how I'm going to do this. It has to look like an accident after all.

I move to step around behind her and-

My foot gets caught on where her seat meets the floor and my eyes go wide as I stumble forward, falling.

Pain fills my existance as I realize the knife ended up between me and the ground.

* * *

 **The Thin Line - End Part 1**

 **Ending notes:**

 **So, confused? I hope so. For the right reasons, anyway.**

 **The second half will be coming soon, maybe even before the next installment of my other fic.**

 **Anyway, thank you for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Before you delve into the story, a suggestion - one I never thought I'd find myself promoting, at that, as I typically roll my eyes whenever I see other authors do so. I guess I've become a bit of a hypocrite.**

 **Still, I really think this situation calls for it.**

 **At a certain point in this chapter will come a scene with a noted musical accompaniment. I would strongly urge that you search it up on You Tube and play it on repeat for that part.**

 **I feel it captures the atmosphere of what I'm trying to convey, exactly.**

 **Anyway, without further ado, the second chapter of The Thin Line.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass or any of the characters listed in this piece; it is merely a sandbox that I am playing in and I earn no profit from this work other than the thrill of knowing others have read it.**

* * *

Having picked up the parcel from the PO box that Lelouch had directed her to at the alotted time, Sayoko proceeded to drop it off at the usual spot - the second floor supply closet at the boundary of the residential and non-residential sections of the manor-like clubhouse.

After stepping inside and partially shutting the door, she sat the manilla envelope-clad, obviously bubble-wrapped package just to the left of where the door would swing, next to the door jamb where it would be hidden from view to cursory inspection.

The young maid had no idea what was contained within but was easily able to resist her curiousity, thanks to years of training and discipline - not in the field of housekeeping, per say, but definitely of keeping one's house clean.

Of threats, that is.

As she departed the closet to return to her youngest charge, she briefly thought on the clandestine deliveries she'd been sporadically having to make these latest years of her employ.

Her young master had been leaving her texts to conduct such infrequent outings; in those messages, a time and a location would be given with the advisement of not bringing up the assigned task in person. Come the next day - without fail - when she would return to collect cleaning supplies, the deposited item would always be gone.

Still, she thought as she made her way through the hallway to the Student Council's meeting room, she was a Shinozaki; she was a professional - if her master assigned her a task of dubious nature to complete confidentially, she would see it through, no questions asked.

Opening the door to the meeting room, she began to speak, "I have retu-"

That was as far as she got as her eyes widened at the scene before her.

One girl, seated, obviously asleep as her slow breathing and tilted head would indicate.

The other, not breathing at all and face down on the floor in a pool of blood.

A bloodstained, sharp looking object jutting up and through the back of her neck, emerging from out of her sea of hair.

* * *

Lelouch, no longer wearing the guise of Zero, sighed. He looked out over the Tokyo Settlement from his vantage within the swiftly moving elevated railcar he was aboard.

The white and red lights of coming and going vehicles in the darkened streets below caught his gaze as his thoughts fell on the previous two hours.

The meeting with his Black Knights and the subsequent inspection of the Guren had carried on a bit longer than he initially expected them to.

He grumbled a bit at as he recalled one of the main causes of that - Tamaki.

The sometimes-rebel leader really should've alotted the oaf's usual antics into the timetable he established for the conclave. The loud mouthed, self-proclaimed 'best bud of Zero', really seemed to have a knack for ruffling feathers, as Kallen laid into him several times verbally and - once - physically, which served to derail the meeting at several points.

Kallen... she'd been rather prickly lately, but the ravenette believed he knew the source of her more-than-typical irritability; the events of two weeks ago.

He had tried to approach her in his helmeted persona during their assessment of her Knightmare, but she had casually rebuffed him - stating she would be okay and that she could handle her own issues herself.

Normally, the former prince would leave it at that but in this instance he wasn't quite satisfied with her denial; to be honest, his concern with her mental well-being wasn't so much of a personal origin, but more of a professional one as it fell along the lines of her ability to perform to his admittedly high expectations. She was the best suited to pilot the seventh generation frame, so he couldn't and wouldn't tolerate her at anywhere but her best.

A bit unfair and callous, perhaps, but there was no one else who could fulfill her role.

Lelouch considered pushing the issue again at the next meeting as he turned his phone back on and noted he had quite a few missed calls and a couple of texts from Sayoko.

Curious, he brought up the latest text.

 _8:34 PM, Sayoko Shinozaki_

 _She's inconsolable & continuing to ask for you. Pls contact ASAP._

With growing concern, he reviewed the first message which came before two more attempts at calling him.

 _8:22 PM, Sayoko Shinozaki_

 _Master, something terrible has happened. Call me ASAYC!_

A pit of dread was opening up within him as he both gripped the train car's stanchion in one hand and keyed the speed dial for his resident maid in the other.

After one and a half rings, he heard the call connect and a digitally distorted voice crying in the background, obviously nearby the answerer.

"Master Lelouch! I-" Sayoko began, only to be cut off.

"Sayoko, I got your messages, what is it? What happened?" he fired out, worrying his lip.

"I- she's dead, sir."

The former royal's eyes widened as he went deathly pale, feeling as if the world was closing in around him; his legs went out from under him, causing him to fall on his rear and gain him some looks from the few other passengers aboard the car.

"N-no..! Nunna-" he started to break down before being interrupted.

"No, master Lelouch! Not Nunnally."

That got him to go silent, and he felt he could breathe once more as he now began to recognize the sobbing voice in the background.

"Miss Fenette, sir. She's dead."

* * *

The scene the eldest Lamperouge returned to at Ashford Academy was far from the bedlam that would most likely befall it come Monday. As it was, a non-descript ambulance was parked just outside the Student Council's clubhouse that doubled as his and his sister's residence.

As the young man made way to enter the building, he had to step aside as two EMTs were just exiting - one opening and holding open the front door while the other was pushing a stretcher, laden with a sheet-draped body.

"Shirley..." the raven haired boy muttered as his eyes began to sting, watching as the two workers continued on to the waiting emergency vehicle. As they loaded up the gurney and climbed in, the lights on top were switched off before the engine was keyed and it pulled away.

He shook himself from his grief; there would be time for that later.

Right now, Nunnally needed him.

The youth entered the building and immediately began looking for his sister; he didn't bother heading to the Council's meeting room as he knew Sayoko would want to take her where she could be most comfortable, so his options were either Nunnally's room or his own.

As he entered the hallway in which their rooms were located, he began to hear muted sobbing. Following this, he came upon his room with its door wide open.

Sayoko was seated on his bed with Nunnally next to her, as they held each other; the younger Lamperouge crying into the bosom of the maid as the latter stroked her hair before looking up at the doorway and meeting his eyes.

"Young master..." the Shinozaki began.

"Br-brother?" his sister called out weakly, her voice hitching as she lifted her head from the woman's chest - her face streaked with tears trailing from her closed eyes.

Lelouch was in the room and at his sibling's side in an instant as the young maid released her charge into his arms.

"I'm here, Nunnally," he cooed into his sister's hair as she glommed onto him and began to cry anew, "I'm here."

He gave a look to Sayoko who bowed and exited the room, shutting the door softly behind her.

An unknown amount of time passed as he did his best to console the young girl, rocking her gently and while stroking her hair and back until - finally - she had cried herself to sleep.

Waiting a few moments, he reached past her slowly - grabbing at the comforter and pulling lightly, revealing the sheets before slowly and gently moving his sister up to the pillow, laying her head down and covering her up to her neck.

He rose and looked down at her for a moment before turning and leaving the room, not shutting the door all the way but leaving it open a crack in case she awoke and called for him.

As he stepped outside, the former royal looked to his right to see his stalwart maid waiting for him near the wall; she had obviously been guarding the door.

Meeting the woman's eyes a moment before looking over his shoulder from whence he came, he gestured further down the hallway with his hand and she nodded in response.

The two walked just enough away from the door where they should be able to speak quietly yet still be near enough to the room the youngest Lamperouge was resting in, in case they were needed.

"Sayoko, what happened?" he inquired in a near whisper, obviously in a state of shock himself.

"I'm not exactly sure." she began, "I stepped away from the Council room for a moment to run an _errand_ ," she emphasized the last word as she looked back at the nearly shut door behind Lelouch, thus missing his lack of comprehension in the chosen word, "and when I came back, I found the young miss asleep in her wheelchair and Miss Fenette dead on the floor."

"How?"

"She looked to have fallen on a knife, sir." she began, "It punctured her neck, through and through. At a glance, I could tell there was nothing that could be done - she wasn't breathing and there was far too much blood. I wheeled the sleeping young miss out and as per your emergency protocol, called Mr. Ashford.

"We agreed it would be too dangerous to contact authorities directly due to the sensitivity of yours and the young miss's identities, so he arranged for a detective who owes him a few favors and a private ambulance service to both come examine the scene and retrieve the body, then I waited for them to arrive." the woman paused briefly to sigh.

"The detective arrived within minutes and quickly processed the scene. From what he could determine, it looked to be an accident. From where she was and the position of her feet, it appeared she stumbled and... fell on the blade.

"He tried to speak to the young miss but she was hysterical upon being awoken and told what happened and thus in no condition to talk, so he left with the agreement to check back in tomorrow to see if she'd be ready to give a statement then. But, sir, given what I came in on, I don't know what he expects her to say - she was rather deeply asleep at the time; I even had some difficulty rousing her." the Japanese woman paused again, gathering her thoughts as she trawled her memory before continuing.

"When the medics arrived, there was obviously nothing they could do. Upon examination of her body, the EMTs confirmed that she was dead seconds after she hit the floor; the knife - an exacto knife - had punctured her carotid."

They were both quiet for a few minutes; Sayoko's silence was due to the scene replaying in her mind, while Lelouch's muteness was born from him trying to wrap his head around another loss so close to home.

"... brother?" Nunnally's fragile voice called out from within his room, drawing them from their mutual silence.

Turning immediately to go to his sister, Lelouch spoke over his shoulder, "Take the rest of the night off, Sayoko. And if you encounter C.C., tell her what happened and to find somewhere else to sleep."

Turning and hearing a "Yes, sir." from behind him, Lelouch returned to his room to find his sister sitting up in his bed, a worried look on her cherubic face.

"I'm here, Nunnally." he spoke, shutting the door behind him before making his way to her.

He sat down once more on his mattress and scooched up to her, putting an arm around her. She folded into his embrace and curled against his chest, a small shudder wracking her shoulders.

They were both quiet for a few moments before the younger Lamperouge finally spoke up.

"It's too cruel..." she said with a sniffle, to which Lelouch responded by rubbing small circles on her back before she continued, "First, Suzaku... and now Shirley's gone, too?"

The former prince really didn't know how to respond other than continue his slow ministrations.

"Sayoko wouldn't say how it happened, only that she... did she..." she sniffled again, "did she go peacefully?"

Resting his chin on the top of her head lightly, the young man breathed out before replying.

"She passed quickly. That's what the medics told Sayoko." he spoke, while brushing her hair. Nunnally seemed to murmur something into his chest before falling into silence - apparently accepting his answer.

Once more, the conversation halted and the only sounds to be heard were two sets of people breathing softly. One more deeply than the other, as Lelouch noted his sister had once more drifted off to sleep.

The elder Lamperouge just sat there, continuing to gently rub the back of his sibling as he fell into his thoughts and memories of the bright young woman who died too soon before her time.

In almost all the scenes that replayed before his mind's eye, the cheery orangette was accentuated with rosey cheeks. Lelouch wasn't blind; he knew of her infatuation with him. It would take a skull with the thickness of lead not to be aware of it.

He, however, never responded to or acknowledged her affections for several reasons; for one, he was living a lie - the him that everyone thought they knew wasn't real and thus the boy Shirley had feelings for didn't even exist; another reason was that, even before he started his revolution, he had plans for the future and how he'd reap his vengeance on his hated homeland; he had already been planning on cutting ties with the people of Ashford so as not to draw them into the conflict - all it would take was discovering his identity then drawing the line back to the academy to try to use those close to him against him as leverage.

In essence, it was for her protection that he not move forward or get involved - with Shirley or any of the other girls who had a thing for him.

But wasn't that strange in itself? The young Fenette wasn't always so enamored with him. When they'd first been introduced to each other as members of the Student Council, she'd been one of the few girls who didn't go loopy in his presence. As a matter of fact, she was somewhat dismissive of him.

The young man had never figured out just what happened to change that...

And now he'd never know.

Coming back from his memories and musings, he turned lightly to look over his shoulder at the clock which displayed the time being a few minutes after ten. He turned back around and laid Nunnally back down softly, cradling her head as he led it to the pillow, before covering her up once more and rising from the bed.

As the former prince got to his feet, he suddenly became aware of just how badly he needed to use the restroom and went off to do just that - heading into his attached bathroom to take care of business. As he unzipped, he took a sniff at his shoulder and realized just how much he needed a shower as well, so he planned on doing just that after he finished up.

He flushed then turned to the shower to turn the water on, letting it run to get warm before heading to the door to his bedroom again - opening it a peek to check on his sister. Confirming she was still asleep, he silently made his way to his dresser to retrieve a fresh pair of underwear and his night clothes.

Returning to the bathroom with clothes in hand, he shut the door behind him and placed his affects on the washbasin counter top before beginning to disrobe.

* * *

Sayoko knew her young master told her to just hang it up for the rest of the night, but she couldn't quite do so yet.

You see, even though her role as a maid was just that - a role - she had actually taken to it rather well, as it clicked with a few of her idiosyncrasies. One of them being, everything being in proper order and in its proper place.

In short? The young woman was a bit OCD when it came to cleanliness and right now there was one room in particular that she knew was in need of her expert touch.

That she was subconciously throwing herself into her maidly duties to soothe her frayed nerves needn't be pointed out.

So, after her dismissal from her master, she immediately set off for the supply closet - which in effect was a rather short trip, as it was in the same hallway she was already in, just down a bit aways from the two Lamperouges' rooms.

After opening the door and stepping into the storeroom a ways, she began to gather what she needed - the steamcleaner and its necessary cleansers - before heading back out and to her destination on the first floor.

When she made her way down the stairs, her route took her past the main entryway and it was there that she ran into the _other_ resident of the clubhouse.

The woman in question was currently holding a steaming box of pizza and breathing in its aroma with a blissed-out expression on her usually stoic visage. That is, until she realized she had company and schooled her features, meeting the brunette's gaze.

They both looked at each other for a moment before the silence was broken.

The limette spoke first.

"Doing some late night cleaning? That boya sure works you hard."

Sayoko blinked before letting some measure of her emotions bleed through, a touch of sadness coloring her features as she spoke, "Actually, this is of my own volition," she paused a moment - to which the other woman thought was the end of their discourse as she began walking toward the staircase, only to be interrupted by the maid stepping into her path and continuing where she left off, "Miss C.C., there's something you need to know."

The so-named woman was slightly annoyed by the impediment to her pizza time but didn't let it show on her face. Instead, she arched a brow as if to say 'Get on with it.'.

"A student - a friend of the young master and mistress - died today, in a rather bloody fashion," the maid revealed to no discernable affect on her listener, "The young miss... she was there when it happened," the maid noted that _that_ got a tiny response as the limette's raised brow lowered slightly, from annoyed to attentive, "She is rather shaken up; as such, she will be staying in the young master's room for the night."

The ageless woman didn't need it spelled out for her, but confirmed anyway, "So, the boya wants me to bed elsewhere?"

The young Japanese woman looked about to respond when the green haired beauty continued, "Fine, I'll take the couch in the living room." and with that, she shifted course in said direction - heading off to the hallway just to her right on the ground floor.

Finding her other assigned task complete, Sayoko turned away from the departing woman and made for the Student Council meeting room.

Upon her arrival and subsequent opening of the door, she took a moment.

She remembered how only earlier in the day the young orangette had been trying - and failing - to dial back her effusive behavior in the presence of the one she was obviously smitten with. The maid recalled how the young woman - no, girl, really - would light up like a beet when her young master's eyes would fall on her. Her cheeks would fill with such color...

And now, the source of that color was spilled in a messy and oblong sillouette on the ground - no longer a bright cherry red but a brownish burgundy.

She pushed the memories from her mind with a practised efficiency established in her true line of work as she went about setting up the vacuum; Shirley Fenette's was not the first life cut short that Sayoko had been acquainted with, but the maid certainly hoped she would be the last.

The Japanese woman made the rounds with the steamcleaner, moving with purpose about the club room.

In the span of fifteen minutes, she was done.

As she rewound the cord around the device, she caught wind of one more task to complete; the tea tray and cups. As if on autopilot, she took the dishes to the attached kitchen and washed them before returning them to their appropriate spots in the cupboard.

Heading back to the entrance of the room, she grabbed the steamvac's handle firmly before looking one last time about the scene, before shaking her head and departing.

Returning to the supply closet, she went about replacing the items she'd taken - the cannisters of cleaner to the shelf along the wall and the vac itself to its place against the wall beneath them.

She thought about taking a quick inventory of the supplies before the words of her master practically repeated themselves in her head, accusingly; Sayoko figured she'd been disobedient enough for one night and left the storeroom without a second glance, rotating her neck to get out the kinks with a sigh as she headed off to bed.

* * *

Lelouch was toweling himself dry some fifteen minutes after he'd first stepped under the relaxing stream of heated water.

It had been rather therapeutic, but now that it was done and he was donning his boxers, he realized it for the act of escapism it was; the wound was still there and he just was trying to ignore it. He was an old hand at ignoring things that got to him and Shirley's death certainly had.

As he finished putting on his pajamas - a button up white shirt and a gray pair of track pants that never saw their proper use - a thought that had occured earlier, back on the train and had been pushed aside, suddenly came to mind and he grimaced.

Or perhaps, it hadn't been a thought exactly, but a feeling.

It sickened him to recall it, but once he had, he couldn't dismiss it. Having left the bathroom after shutting off its light, he made to repeat the action in his room proper - walking up to the lightswitch on the wall near the door to flick it off as he tried once more to push the memory away.

As he returned to his bed and observed his sister, who had rolled over in her slumber to face the wall, he remembered once more.

When he had called Sayoko and she had told him 'She's dead.', Lelouch felt like he had nothing left to live for.

And when the Japanese woman had clarified that she wasn't talking about his sister but actually about Shirley, he felt relief.

 _Relief_.

Relief that Nunnally was alive even though it meant that Shirley was not.

It disgusted him, now that the thought had been laid bare. In a sense, wouldn't it mean he was happier that Shirley was dead? Or rather, that he could 'live with it' if the bubbly orangette passed on but not if his sister did?

At that moment, as the former royal laid himself down next to Nunnally while staring up at the ceiling, he felt like a damn monster. He closed his eyes and tried to banish the thought or at least focus on something else.

So, he focused on his sibling's breathing - it was deep and slow. He forced himself to follow her example, his chest rising and falling, and, after laying there for some time - despite his spiraling thoughts of a self-loathing nature - he found himself drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Suggested track: [Kara no Shoujo Soundtrack: 14 - Cruel night]

* * *

¨`-.-´¨

My eyes open slowly as I hear my Beloved's breathing settle, finally.

I wait for five turns of the clock, to ensure He has truly fallen asleep.

I sit up and turn to look down at His breathtakingly handsome face and sit there and stare, my heart hammering in my chest as a shiver runs down my spine.

How many times had I made my way to His room in the middle of the night just to do this? Too many to count. But never before had I been _in_ His bed while I did. Oh, certainly, I had been just as close - close enough to breathe in His heavenly scent, close enough to hear the breath escape His nose and lips, close enough to count the number of lashes on His eyes.

He has one hundred and forty three on the upper lid of His right eye, one hundred and forty seven on the left with an equal seventy six on both lower lids.

Well, He did, anyway. He may have more or less now, I'm not sure really because it's been two months since I've been able to be so close to Him. Ever since 'Zero' was born and that green haired bimbo moved in and decided to steal His bed, I've been unable to draw so close to him in the evenings.

Oh, I've considered killing her, as well.

I had a plan ready that involved drugging her and pushing her down the trash chute, amidst all those pizza boxes she accumulates in the bin outside on collection day; let her get compacted with the rest of the garbage and ship her corpse off to a landfill somewhere.

Those plans were set aside when I was able to ascertain - through several weeks of nightly keyhole observations - that she has no interest in him in _that_ way. Maybe she's a lesbian? That's the only way a woman could look upon Him and not be utterly enamored.

Well, that or blind.

I nearly crack up at that but hold it in with the indomitable power of will that has seen me through so much.

So much...

I fall back into my memories, recalling the duration in which the diagnosis of my blindness was actually true; it was the same length of time that I was unable to walk.

Apparently, my infirmity was all in my head; the 'trauma' related to the events of my mother's death were blocking my sense of sight - or so I heard the doctors say. They couldn't be sure if I'd ever regain it, but if I could, it would likely take years of therapy.

They also said I'd never walk again due to the damage my legs received, but they were wrong about that, too.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I remember thinking, 'Years? I can't accept that!'

Ah, I used to be so impatient...

And persistent, but unlike my former lack of patience, that hasn't changed any.

Anyway, I came to the conclusion that if the mental block responsible for my blindness could be worked past, then all I needed to overcome it was proper motivation.

That motivation came in the form of my desire to see and be near my dear, sweet Lulu again. For literally days, as I sat on that hospital bed, I just kept thinking it, wishing it, hoping it... _willing_ it, until one evening I could feel something just... snap.

It's hard for me to describe it, now that I think about it.

I really never quite felt the same since, but that doesn't matter.

When it first happened, I had considered letting my Beloved know I was no longer so disabled... come to think of it, that's when I first started referring to Him as such. In any case, I'll admit, I'd grown accustomed to and rather spoiled by all His added attention. He had been kind before, but after 'the incident' with mother, He'd taken to practically hovering about me.

I didn't want that to end. Not at all.

Now, though, I'm ready to move things beyond that...

In any case, as I first opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was the ceiling of the sterile hospital room - and the annoying glare coming in from the window. Without even thinking of the signifigance of what I was doing, I moved off my bed and struggled to the window to shut the curtains.

It was once I had returned to my bed - with some difficulty - that I realized the gravity of what all had just transpired.

My mobility and sight had returned! And it was obvious what that meant.

It was proof that we, my Beloved and I, were meant to be together. After all, it had been my thoughts and desire of being with and seeing my Lulu again that had healed me; such power couldn't stem from a lie! My love for Him made me whole... Oh, my legs aren't what they used to be - to be sure, but they work well enough to get around.

And get around I did, months later on that day, so many years ago when I secretly followed my Beloved to that hilltop with that 'friend' of His. I watched from the treeline while He made His proclaimation about what He'd do to our wretched homeland. He was so... so... righteous. So passionate. So confident... I get shivers to this day.

That was the day I knew what I had to do; as He made His vow, I made mine; anyone who got in my Lulu's way had to go.

And because we're meant to be together, that meant anyone who got in _my_ way of being with Him, my Beloved Lulu, had to go.

Ugh, there I go again, following along with that blonde floozy's perversion of my petname for Him.

But I really should stop digressing; I'm beginning to sound like I'm crazy or something.

I come back to the here and now as I continue to stare down upon my Beloved _Lelou_ for another moment before turning away from Him to look at what I concealed beneath the covers in my skirt's pocket.

I had to slip out of His room to grab it from the supply closet then duck into my room to gather the rest while He was showering.

Tada! The latest package! Or rather, its contents; I buried the bubble-wrap filled envolope at the bottom of my Beloved's trashcan. The maid will pick it up to dispose of it and the rest of the refuse later, as she always does.

Such a convenient tool, she is.

A simple message from that cloned cell phone and off she goes to retrieve my latest order off the internet. So many amazing things I've found there... listening devices, fast acting sleeping pills, narcotics... and this lovely gem.

I look at the object in my hand as it catches the moonlight from the window.

It's a small medical injection gun with a dial for administering the perfect dose, every time! Or that's what it said on the net. I did more research than that - I wouldn't risk my Beloved's life, after all! It's kind of shaped like a pistol and currently it's loaded with something that in too high a dose would definitely be fatal, but that's why I have it set to the absolute minimum setting. Well, minimum for my Beloved's weight range.

I turn back to my dear Lelou and smile as I lower the needle to his neck and gently press it in and pull the trigger.

He groans lightly but doesn't wake up.

I'm sorry, my Beloved brother. If I could make the shot painless, I would...

He seems to have fallen back into a deeper sleep.

Good.

I wait for several more minutes to tick by as I press the cotton swab to his neck, observing Him carefully as I wait for the first drug to take effect, closely monitering his breathing while feeling his pulse at his wrist. The trick with succinylcholine is giving Him just enough to paralyze Him while still leaving Him fully capable of sensation. This is the most directly dangerous compound I'll be using, as it could cause his organs to stop functioning.

Learning about the intricacies of pharmacology online was a chore; it involved a few weeks worth of 'sick days' alone in my room pouring over the laptop I had the maid 'drop off', but if it's for my future with my Beloved, I'll do _**anything**_.

Anyway, it's not like I'll be able to tell whether it's working until I use the next shot. I guess I'm just making excuses to stare at and admire Him.

I unscrew the current bottle and replace it with the next from my pocket. This one can also be dangerous in large amounts but has an interesting effect; a touch of euphoria that makes reality nearly indistinguishable from dream.

And what a good dream you will have, my dearest Lelou...

I bring the needle to his neck again and - sure enough, he isn't flinching - I inject it.

Two down, one to go. Well, technically _four_ , but that last solution won't be needed until later...

I switch the bottles with the third substance. This one was the easiest to find on the web and is normally quite legal - not like the other two. I may have come by it illegally, though, but that's just semantics. A shame it didn't come directly in injectable form, but that's what dissolving the pill in a saline solution was for.

Once more, the needle sinks into my Beloved's neck and I inject it as well.

This is the weakest part of my plan, really; if He or anyone else notices the injection site. Well, it _is_ why I chose to aim for a mole; it may be irritated, come tomorrow, but the pigment should hide the needle mark.

And what a cute mole it is... I'm tempted to lean over and give it a suckle, but I have my priorities. Can't be leaving any visible hickies just yet!

Not this early in my grande design...

I just need to wait for it to take effect. As I do, I rub at my bruised wrist lightly - it's still hurting pretty badly since I fell on it earlier. Good thing the knife wasn't pointed at me, otherwise I could've ended up like that BITCH.

And what a convenient and a simple thing that was to arrange.

Once I had gotten up from that rather embarrassing tumble, I just slid her out of her seat and dragged her along the floor a bit - luckily, that SLUT was a heavy sleeper. Well, not that it had everything to do with luck - her stupid roommate answered my questions about her sleeping habits easily enough, months ago. All I had to do was play the innocent, unassuming blind girl card.

Anyway, I just dragged her along, put the knife in her hand, put it under her neck, grabbed a fistful of her ugly orange hair and slammed the BITCH's face into the ground.

It made a nice splurting sound before she started gurgling; she died choking on her own blood as she exsanguinated.

Too good for her, really, but I was pressed for time.

I managed to scramble away from her quickly enough, only getting a bit of misting on my shirt sleeve but I got to the kitchen in time to wash it off before heading back to my chair and draining the rest of her sleeping pill laced tea.

I may be an excellent actress, but I had to really sell it! The maid isn't stupid, after all. Well, not entirely stupid. Everyone seems a bit dull when you have an IQ of 208. Not my dearest brother, though. He surpasses me by seven points! His mind is just as gorgeous as His kind heart... and His body.

In any case, the maid probably thinks the Valeria Root tea put me to sleep, the relaxing blend that it is, but I won't tell her otherwise.

Or that detective; what an incompetent sod he was. Didn't even bother collecting any evidence, just bought the scene as it was. Not that I'm complaining.

Really, how nice of old Ruben to treat a lady so gently, shooting any proper investigation in the foot out of lingering family loyalties. I should do something nice for him.

I suppose holding off on getting rid of his cunt of a granddaughter would suffice. After all, I'm not _entirely_ sure she has designs on my Lelou.

It's okay for her to look, after all - she is far from the only one who does; so long as that's _**all**_ they do.

It's not like I'm some unreasonable monster!

And, well, disposing of roughly half the student body would be such a pain to orchestrate... not that that would stop me.

After all, gas leaks happen all the time.

Anyway, I can see it's been enough time for the last drug to kick in as I look down His body while licking my lips in anticipation, seeing just what an _effect_ it has on my dear Beloved.

I rise to my knees and shuffle off the bed, heading for the door - which I lock.

My darling Lelou may not be going anywhere but I won't tolerate any interruptions.

I nearly stumble as I turn back around. It still isn't easy walking, all these years later; lasting damage to the muscles in my lower legs is the likely cause of that, so I don't look quite right when I'm on my feet.

Oh well. I don't need my lower legs' movement to 'look right' for what I have in store for you, my dear brother.

I admire my sweet Lelou's form as I make my way back to Him, stopping briefly to grab some tissues from off his dresser.

He's still sleeping as I climb onto the bed and on top of him. I shudder again as my nearly bare sex presses against him and-

Oh? That got Him to stir a little.

He's opening His eyes! His beautiful, amethyst eyes... they're so similar to mine, but slightly darker. How I've missed being able to look deeply into them. These were the eyes I fell in love with, so long ago. Though, back then it was such an innocent love.

Hmm... His eyes closed again.

Pity.

It appears just sitting on His lap isn't enough to fully rouse Him. Unsurprising, considering what all I have Him on.

Oh well, He'll be waking up in a bit - not that He'll _know_ He's awake or be able to move, but...

As I watch His face through half-lidded eyes, I can feel my breathing become heavier by the minute and I begin to remove my clothes - my shirt first followed by my skirt, setting them to the side, leaving the injector atop the pile, loaded with the final compound.

My black knee highs I leave on, however.

I take the tissues I knicked and I tuck them around the gap between His knees and beneath me for later.

Dreams of taking your sister's virginity don't leave blood in the real world behind, now do they? I think not. Now that I'm down to my bra, panties and socks, my fingers happen to brush by my thigh and I'm reminded just how wet I am. I had forced my arousal to one side while I went about setting this all up and that certainly was quite the endeavor.

Ever since He came home, my body has been aching for Him.

He's such a caring brother... When I called out to Him, He came right to me and took me into His arms. I nearly had an orgasm right there! As I willed myself to put on the waterworks up above, down below and beneath my skirt a similar story was being told; it was a good thing I was sitting down or my wetness may have seeped all the way down to my socks.

Fortunately, the maid has been used to dealing with my knickers and skirts after they've been through my 'embarassing hypersensitivity issues', else the mess I'm making would be quite suspect. And the few tissues I put between my crotch and his certainly doesn't hurt!

Now that I'm ready, it's time to for you to open your eyes, my dear... sweet...

¨`-.-´¨

"...er..."

Lelouch stirred - or rather, he tried to stir but found that his body wasn't responding to him. The young man's mind was cloudy and he discovered it was difficult to focus on any one thing - thoughts just failed to fully form and would slip away like an infant grasping at sand. He felt a tingling fuzziness all over his body but otherwise nothing else seemed amiss. Except that pressure on his lap and-

"...ther..."

-and that he felt uncomfortably erect. He also had the sensation of small... fingers? Small fingers gliding over his chest. The former prince tried to open his eyes to see what was happening but his eyelids seemed like they each weighed a ton. Also, he kept thinking he was hearing something but it was-

"...rother..."

-it was strange; a kind of muted yet paradoxically clear voice. As a matter of fact, it almost sounded like Nunnally's. But, his sluggish mind tried to object, that couldn't be right. He would never, could never imagine Nunnally sounding like that. She wouldn't ever sound so... so... breathy, her speech charged with such emotion.

"Brother..."

But the Black Prince heard her voice once again while those sliding finger tips moved up to his neck and then back down his body as, despite himself, he could feel himself throb in response to the stimulation.

"Mmmm... I felt that..."

And apparently, so could the owner of that voice. Once again, Lelouch wasn't sure what was going on. Everything felt just so... unreal, illusory, and slighty off. The bare minimum of higher thought he could cobble together - the conclusion he could come to, independent the sensations - was that he was lucid dreaming. Then again - he reasoned - if that were so, he should have had some control and, therefore, should not have been hearing and feeling someone who sounded like his sister. And he most certainly shouldn't be _physically_ reacting to them.

Suddenly, he felt the pressure on him shift - those finger tips turned into full on palms upon his chest as the weight distributed itself more evenly.

And then, the eldest Lamperouge felt as if warm breath washed over his face.

"Why won't you open your eyes, dear brother?"

The figment of his imaginings that sounded like his sister... this dream-Nunnally, spoke from so close a distance that he could feel her lips lightly brush against his.

"I can feel how much you want me... Won't you look at me, Lelou..?"

The young man was torn - he was convinced he was dreaming and yet he didn't want to acknowledge what was happening within said dream. And yet, _because_ he was dreaming the scenario, that had to mean that his subconcious was not only acknowledging it, but projecting it.

He tried to reconcile the two contradictory thoughts, but they just seemed to slip away - as if he were trying hold onto air.

"You're being rather cruel, brother, ignoring me like that..." the voice murmured, "But that's okay..." he felt her breath wash over his face again, "I'll forgive you..." and suddenly, he could feel a moist pressure against his lips. There was some light suction involved before he could feel a small damp prodding sensation between them. One of the weights on his chest, one of the palms, slid up to his neck and then along his jaw - where it pressed lightly.

Lelouch then felt his teeth parting slightly and then that prodding feeling at his lips intensified before a lithe, hot tongue slipped past them and into his mouth.

"Mmmmmm..." he could both hear and feel dream-Nunnally moan into his mouth, as her little tongue crawled along his gums, traced his teeth and scraped the hard palate of the roof of his oral cavity before descending onto and against his own muscle. She began to knead against it, rolling it around his mouth before posting beneath it. He then felt that slight suction return as his tongue was drawn out past his lips and in between hers.

Dream-Nunnally slurped and suckled on the appendage for a good moment before releasing it to return to his mouth. Lelouch, who had been wishing he had the ability to freak out and distance himself from the sensations he was undeniably physically reacting to, felt the palm that was on his jaw and cheek slide back down to his chest, as the sound of her breathing neared his left ear.

"That was my first kiss, Lelou..." following that admission, dream-Nunnally laved his ear with that wicked tongue of hers before closing on his earlobe to suckle it lightly and nip at it, only ending the contact a few moments later as that weight - which he was finally able to associate as hers - pulled away, shifting upon him once more to what it felt like when she wasn't leaning over him.

"You're being rather stubborn," dream-Nunnally said with what sounded like a pout, "or could it be... you _can't_ open your eyes?" the weight - her weight - shifted forward again, her palms and finger tips bunched up on some sort of fabric along the way - his shirt? The former prince was once again confused by the stimuli as his mind worked hard to process rather simple input. The palms on his chest left to be replaced by a warm... well, what could only be dream-Nunnally's warm body as two small swells pressed against his chest and he once more felt her digits upon his face.

They slid up to his eyelids and gently parted them and... now Lelouch _knew_ beyond any doubt that he had to be dreaming, as, staring heatedly at him, evenly spaced on an all-too-familiar face framed by a curtain of strawberry blonde hair, was a sight he hadn't seen in years.

His sister's shimmering lilac eyes.

The lips upon that face then pulled into a smile - a smile of the sort that had no business being upon that visage. At least, not a smile the Black Prince ever wanted to see.

Or... did he? This was his dream after all...

"Now that's _much_ better. I have so missed looking into your eyes, my dear brother." dream-Nunnally said, breathily. Lelouch hazily agreed that it had been too long since he had looked into hers, as well. In fact, dream or no, being able to once again made him wish he could cry out of the nostalgia of it.

He also wished he could cry out of frustration from what his subconcious was doing to his sister but-

Dream-Nunnally tilted her head and her cascade of locks shifted accordingly, "You're thinking too much, Lelou..." and with that, her face grew in his sight as she descended upon him once again, capturing his lips.

Lelouch wanted to pull away - or at least, he thought he wanted to pull away. If he truly wanted to, he once again tried to rationalize, shouldn't he be able to in his own dream? In any case, he was made to watch, listen to and feel dream-Nunnally begin suckling at his lips before she plunged her tongue back through them; her eyes closed as if she were trying to fully experience every bit of him.

Her little appendage swirled around his for four or more rotations before she pulled away, her teeth dragging along his lower lip before separating - a silvery string connecting their mouths, before it snapped.

All the while, she grinned that unsettlingly aluring smile on her lips.

Despite himself, the former prince throbbed again, and this time he clearly noted that his painfully stiff member was being pressed between himself and this sexualized doppelganger of his sister.

He then bore witness to that smile of hers grow even more lewd, if that were possible, as she practically purred in response; her right hand travelled from his shoulder, down his chest, along his moderately toned stomach and onto...

"Why do you try to deny it, dear brother?" dream-Nunnally asked as she slowly began stroking his length, her dainty fingers barely fitting around him as her palm kneaded him on every upstroke, "Why can't you be more honest like _this_ part of you?" she said, giving his girth a squeeze, "We both know you _long_ for me..." he wanted to say no, to deny it. Didn't he? Lelouch was growing more confused and, as if just to rub salt in the wound, he throbbed again in her hand.

She slowly pulled away, rising so that she was seated upon him as her hand kept up with its oh-so-slow ministrations. In her new position, the young man was now privy to her current state of dress. Or rather, lack thereof; her otherwise bare body was clad in a soft, frilly lavender bra and a matching set of panties, from what he could see - he couldn't even move his eyes in their sockets, after all, else he'd be looking away.

Wouldn't he?

The former prince tried to focus on something else, other than what felt like was happening, but his thoughts continued to elude him, "You're still thinking too much, dear brother," dream-Nunnally admonished with a slow shake of her head, "I can see it in your eyes. Your beautiful eyes are so very expressive." she drawled, derailing his thoughts before she once more tilted her head - this time in the opposite direction, causing her waves of hair to follow suit - as she raised a delicate brow, "Do you like my body, Lelou?"

He wanted to say... to say... what? No? Yes? It didn't really matter what his response was because, try as he might, he couldn't get his mouth - or the rest of his body, for that matter - to obey him. His mind was only growing increasingly muddled. It was if molasses or some other thick, slow moving fluid was being used as a filter for his thoughts, trapping them and preventing them from running their course with mounting difficulty.

Unaware or uncaring of his inner turmoil, dream-Nunnally's hand - the one that hadn't been slowly caressing his member - came up to her own body, and began rubbing at one of her meager, bra laden swells even as her eyes remained glued to his, "Would you-mmhh..." she groaned at her own touch,"... would you like to see more?"

At this point, Lelouch wasn't even thinking of the question asked; whether the answer be yes or no, he just wanted to wake up.

Well, a part of him wanted to, because even as the small cognizant portion of his mind wanted to find the mental equivalent of a ripcord and bail out of this delusion, his body certainly had its answer and made it known to dream-Nunnally, who smiled once more in response.

Her stroking hand ceased its movement upon him and the eldest Lamperouge was once again of two minds about that, until his attention was captured by the movement of both her hands as they skirted the sides of her thin waist before disappearing behind her back as she bent her arms at the elbows.

A moment later, her hands were back in sight, one moving up to her left shoulder strap - pulling it down and off her arm - before the other mirrored its action with the right, before they halted; crossing over her chest.

"Look at me, Lelou. _Only_ at me."

Smiling once more, dream-Nunnally gripped the fabric lightly and pulled away - discarding the frilly item and revealing her nubile upper body to him; her thin, pale torso and very modest bosom topped by two small, pink, pebble-like nipples.

Her hands returned to her own body, crawling up along her torso to cup each meager breast before her fingers sought out and tweaked both her peaks, causing her to hiss lightly as she did so - her eyes narrowing but not once leaving his and making him feel quite uncomfortable, for a new reason; Lelouch was becoming uncomfortable with the burgeoning feeling of _not_ feeling uncomfortable with what was happening, as his rigid length once more pulsed against the hot, moist junction of her thighs.

Dream-Nunnally's hands slid back down her form - one leaving her body to alight upon his shirt covered abdomen, lightly clawing at his flesh - while the other followed the plain of her stomach, down past her navel... and into her panties, where the former prince could now feel her knuckles brushing against his member as they pushed between her body and his as she began rubbing her sex.

"Nnmm... can you hear that?" she drawled rhetorically, "Can you hear how very wet you make me, brotherrr..?" she purred.

The former royal could indeed both hear _and_ feel her ministrations as her fingers delved into herself and withdrew, sunk in and pulled back - audibly stirring her hidden honey pot as she continued to meet his gaze.

She gasped with a shudder before biting her lip as she withdrew her arousal coated fingers - which glinted in the soft moonlight streaming through the open window - and brought them up to her pouting mouth. Her salmon pink tongue snaked out from between her scarlet lips and laved at her digits before drawing them into her mouth, sucking on them softly before withdrawing them and lowering her hand back down onto his stomach.

Her smoldering eyes, two indentical burning cuts of alexendrite, pinned him in place as she began to grind herself against him. Dream-Nunnally began to pant lightly as her gyrations grew more pronounced - she slid along his length, in a forward motion nearly reaching the crown of his concealed member before pulling back all the way to the base before repeating the process; with every thrusting grind she would exhale with a whimper through her slightly parted lips.

Lelouch was really trying to not concentrate on what he was experiencing, but he was failing miserably. This dream was beginning to feel too real, which was even more disconcerting because he was beginning to respond past just throbbing against her.

He was beginning to consciously _want_ her... and the shame that went along with that, what little he was able to conjure with his befuddled mind, was steadily being eroded by the mounting pleasure he was experiencing.

The former prince let that thought hang a moment before attempting to shake it off. Dream-Nunnally, as if reading his mind however, seemed diametrically opposed to his wishes even as she came to a shuddering halt along his member, heaving a shaky sigh; she was breathing somewhat heavily as she lifted herself up by pushing off his stomach, before leaning back so that she was sitting between his knees on her rump, bending her - to his newfound knowledge - black knee high clad legs.

In her new position, no longer covering his lap, the former heir to the Britannian throne thought he could see some sort of white sqaures of some sort where she'd been seated and grinding upon him, but he couldn't be sure as his eyes - like the rest of his body in this damn dream - refused to obey him.

Instead, he had a clear view of the panty clad nexus of her lower body; most prominent was the large, dark, wet spot centered in the middle of the otherwise light purple fabric, though he was also aware of the sheen of slightly cloudy fluid coating a small portion of her inner thighs.

The youth was then made to watch as her hands crawled up said thighs to her hips and her thumbs into the waistband of the last stitch of clothing preserving her modesty, as she pulled it down along her legs, which she lifted up into the air so that the sopping wet article could clear her toes - a feat of movement that even in his hazy mind he knew should be just as impossible as her open, seeing eyes.

But then again, this was a dream, so what did concepts like possible or impossible even mean? The eldest Lamperouge's gray matter refused to cooperate properly, confuddled as it was by the pervasive, thick fog that seemed to wrap around it.

He was once again pulled from his meager attempts at musing as the now nude girl shifted forward and began moving again, drawing closer to him.

As if wasting no time, and being driven into a panting state by her own actions, dream-Nunnally crawled forward on all fours - her legs wobbling slightly behind her - until she was nose to nose with the former prince once again, leaning over him with one hand pressed to his chest while her other remained at his side; her heated exhalations tinged with a slightly sweet and musky aroma as it washed over him; she looked him dead in the eyes before breaking off to look down at his lips and then back up into his eyes once more.

"Are you ready to have me, brother?" she purred the question, her lips teasingly close as her lilac orbs gleamed with undisguised lust, "Are you ready to feel the _depths_ of my love?" she repeated, this time accompanied by her left hand trailing down his body and remaing flush with his skin as she gripped him unhindered.

Lelouch couldn't summon his voice to answer even if he wanted to - which he wasn't even sure he did; he wasn't sure of anything anymore as his body and dulled mind warred with one another; his confusion aside, though, physiology seemed to take precedent in this dream once again as he throbbed in her hand.

Dream-Nunnally's response was pulling her lips into that smile - the very same he'd seen when his eyes were first opened - before she descended on his lips a third time, plundering them with far more aggression than previously, as she squeezed his manhood lightly; her tongue massaging a mad rythym along and against his, as if she were trying to wriggle her way back to his tonsils before she suddenly broke the kiss and leaned back, retreating, shuffling her knees along the way.

The hand that supported her weight along his chest slid down his torso even as her fondling palm slid up to his side before each of her dainty hands grasped the waistband of whatever he was wearing in this nightmarish fantasy and began pulling the garment down - having to shimmy it side-to-side to have it complete its journey to his knees - freeing his towering erection to the surprisingly chilly open air.

Dream-Nunnally, now inches away from the lightly swaying symbol of his masculinity, licked her lips as she took her eyes off his, focusing her full attention upon it and began slowly closing the distance between her face and the turgid organ.

Lelouche saw and felt her left hand slide up his thigh, her fingernails lightly dragging along his skin, until they reached her prize - her fingers closing around his engorged member as best they could before she began to pump it at a teasingly sedate pace.

"Yes..." she spoke, the heat passing her lips both physical and figurative as her eyes left his erection and peered deep into his own, "Yes, I can see that you are _most_ ready, dear brother..." her eyes returned to the meaty length rubbing along her palm as she continued to stroke it, her chin now nearly touching his tip, "But I hope you'll indulge me, Lelou..." she stopped her ministrations, gripping as best she could around his base as her eyes met his once more, "...because first, I'd like a taste."

And with that, her cherry lips descended upon his head and down just past his crown, exposing the end of his length to the sweltering moistness within her voracious maw, before pulling back - her tongue extending between her bottom lip and his shaft as she dragged it back up to his tip before she once more dove back down along his length, bringing even more of him into her surprisingly capable little mouth.

The former prince's mind, much like another part of him, was practically blown; the part of him that had been doing its level best to resist, escape from or otherwise reject the sensations given to him by this figment of his obviously depraved subconcious, teetered on the precipice of surrender; the nearly maddening amount of pleasure he was being subjected to was a dissolvent that had nearly completely eaten through the mental barrier that separated what was and what was not acceptable to think about in regards to his younger sister.

His mental dillemma was callously brushed aside as dream-Nunnally suddenly held herself still on his rod while her tongue waggled along the underside of his member, slathering it in her saliva as she breathed heavily though her nose; her deft appendage stroking at what veins it could find, before she once more rose up and off his manhood with a messy slurp, her hand once more beginning to pump him in long, even strokes along his spit-slickened length as her half-lidded eyes bored into his.

"You are delicious, brother..."

Lelouch could feel the balance of wanting this all to stop and wanting it to continue finally begin to collapse, in favor of the latter. However, being unable to voice his mind one way or the other, the former prince could only meet dream-Nunnally's simmering gaze as she once more leaned in close to his stiff member, extending her drooling tongue to begin lapping at - and swirling around the rim of - his crown in broad, rapid licks.

The elder Lamperouge twitched against her agile appendage as she shortened the strokes of her hand to cover only the base of his organ to halfway up his shaft and back. Teasing grin firmly in place, the strawberry blonde pressed her pursed, moistened lips to his head and once more descended his length - halfway down his increasingly lubricated member to the terminating point of her ministrations, her curled thumb and forefinger colliding against her lips with every upstroke, as she began sucking noisily upon him, her tongue lashing out against his underside only to roll slowly back behind her lips, as if trying to tug his orgasm right out of him.

The eldest Lamperouge felt himself twitch again, growing ever closer to a climax he was now only weakly railing at himself for wanting.

His salacious dream-sister slowed the movements of her pumping hand to a stop and eased back on her level of suction as she slowly withdrew him from her mouth with a wet pop, her whole body beginning to crawl forward once again; she slid her knees over his thighs so that she straddled them as she rose even higher off the bed, her left hand still positioned at the very base of his heavily stimulated cock while her right began moving along the bed beneath her, arranging those white strips he idly noticed earlier.

Dream-Nunnaly's chest was rising and falling in near heaves as her smokey gaze, filled with an almost unsettling level of sexual hunger, met his own slightly panic filled stare as she began to position her hips just above the tip of the bulbous head of his member; her puffy vulva was practically glazed with her arousal which, the former prince only now realized, was the source of that sweet musky smell he'd taken notice of earlier.

Whatever task her right hand had been seeing to was apparently completed, he noted, as it came up off the bed and cupped her sex, rubbing back and forth as she shuddered at her own touch, moaning lowly in her throat.

Dream-Nunnally's hand abruptly stopped its movements as her middle and forefinger pressed into her pink, glistening womanhood before splaying apart - opening herself to him as a few cloudy strings of liquid feminine arousal dripped down at the speed of honey onto his member's head.

With eyes that most certainly would've widened had he even the barest control of himself, Lelouch watched as she slowly began to descend - her slick, twitching petals steadily devouring his shaft to a point just beyond the rim of his crown as she suddenly halted; the former prince noticed some hesitation color her countenance even as he physically felt some resistance against his tip, some impedement to the intrusion he was taking no active part in committing.

Dream-Nunnally took a breath before biting her lip and resumed lowering herself, drawing him through the flimsy barrier without further pause - hissing with furrowed brows as she did so. Her moist, silken tunnel eased itself down his length, inch by sinful inch until finally, their pelvises met with a squelch; the former prince's last remaining thoughts of protest died in the intermittently squeezing grip of her slick, molten walls.

He could feel her rapid heartbeat through her sex as she remained stationary upon him, her body leaning forward slightly as she placed one hand on his chest while she visibly tried to calm her rather labored breathing. And, the eldest Lamperouge idly noticed, was dabbing at their connected groins with those white strips of cloth he'd taken notice of earlier.

Seemingly finished with what she'd busied herself with about their point of union, and her breathing no longer as strained, dream-Nunnally looked back up at the young man she was straddling with a steadily widening grin as she leaned forward further, her right hand joining her left on his chest as she slid closer to his face until they were but inches apart.

"You've made a woman out of me, brother." she whispered heatedly, before closing the remaining gap between their lips in a searing kiss, even as she slowly began grinding her hips against his; her movement causing her inner walls to hug and stroke at his length with a softness that held no equal.

Were he still fighting himself over the utter wrongness of the subject matter of this fantasy, Lelouch would have paled at dream-Nunnally's statement. However, his thoughts - which had been enshrouded in a daze inducing miasma from the very outset - had since quieted and now the former prince was merely feeling things as they happened, forgoing introspection, as he found himself falling deeper and deeper into physical indulgence.

The young man felt her tongue recede from his mouth as she pulled away from his lips; her dainty fingers ran from his abdomen to his chest before splaying and establishing leverage while she slowly pushed herself back up into a seated position, her back straightening practically one vertebra at a time; all the while, she ground her sex against the base of his own - her overflowing secretions matting his pubic hair in a slick mess.

Dream-Nunnally's fingertips slid back along his body to his abdomen once again, before her palms pressed down more heavily as her hips rose along his length; when she'd risen just past halfway up his shaft, she came back down with a juicy splat as she hissed through her teeth.

Lelouch could, literally, only watch as his dream-sister repeated the previous motion again and again, establishing a slow rythym; her gushing channel gripping and tugging at him with every rise, as if refusing to let his length part from her even for an inch, only to shudder and squeeze tightly around him as she came back down - devouring him anew - and collided with his pelvis.

As her movements began to become more smooth, she closed her eyes - breaking the eye contact they held since her kiss - as she tilted her head back, displaying her delicate neck; her body rising and falling on his with an increasing tempo as she moaned huskily through slightly parted lips.

She rode him as if she were in a daze of her own as her fingertips lightly dug in to his stomach, her petite frame rising and falling as she practically danced atop him.

Moonlight seeping in through a gap in the clouds outside shone upon her, causing her pale form to glow and glisten as beads of trailing sweat rolled down her svelte body like streams of liquid diamond as she continued to bounce upon him.

That tiny voice of rationality within him, the barest iota of concious thought Lelouch Lamperouge had at that moment was a damning one; as her body rode his and she breathed airy sighs, he could only find dream-Nunnally beautiful.

As if in response to his guilty admission, he could feel the tightening knot of his long denied and teased climax begin to build within him as he twitched with impending inevitability.

Dream-Nunnally seemed to notice it as well, as her head rolled on her neck from where she was facing skyward to where she could once more cast her burning gaze into his unblinking eyes, "Nnnmmm... are you going to cum for me, brother?" she leaned forward, her fingers running part-way up his taut abdomen as she began increasing her pace, "Are you going to-MMmmm- are you going to _fill_ me with your love?"

The strawberry blonde's lower body was rising and falling at a near frenzied rate now, the room filling with wet slaps and slurps, her shallow breaths punctuated with her infrequent whimpers and mewls as she pounded herself against him, her eyes glimmering with the light of the moon as well as a primal hunger, "Go ahead brother," she whined as she drew even closer, her lips inches away from his, "Give it to me!"

And, as if by her urging, Lelouch saw stars as he felt that knot suddenly unravel as he exploded, pulsing stream after stream of his pent up orgasm into her; dream-Nunnally's mouth fell upon his, hungrily mashing her lips to his as her tongue surged forth while she loosed a muted, wordless scream down his throat - her eyes screwed shut as she shuddered along with his release, her own needy sex sent into a series of seizing spasms as she repeatedly gripped his shaft with a flexing tightness that bordered on painful.

As his orgasm died down, the former prince felt his awareness begin to drift further away - as if being slowly buried in warm sand - as his dream-sister opened her eyes once more from directly in front of his own, her long curtain of hair fell around his head, leaving him peering into two dimly lit lilac orbs in a sea of black.

"I love you... brother..." as he felt a slight sting in his neck, her breathy voice seemed to fade away along with his conciousness as his surroundings blurred into the void.

¨`-.-´¨

I pull the injector away from Him as I slowly lean back, pressing a new cotton swab against His neck. That last solution was a more concentrated form of that sleeping drug that was integral to setting these beautiful events in motion.

Speaking of those events... I rub my abdomen as I feel the liquid heat accumulated there, just above and around His still excited manhood. I'm tempted to begin riding Him once more... but no.

All things in due time. This lovely night was just to plant the seed in His mind; now, He'll never be able to look at me without thinking of the 'dream' He had and when they become 'recurring', well... eventually He'll realize what He really wants.

And I'll welcome Him with open arms.

I titter lightly before it becomes a full on giggle as I rise off of Him and begin cleaning up - gathering the tissues drenched in our fluids and my blood.

As I shamble to the edge of the bed in preparation to dispose of the physical remnants of our first of many interludes, I look back upon Him, my Beloved.

There is nothing that I will not do to make you love me as I do you, dear brother; no lie I won't tell, no one I won't kill; no line I won't cross.

After all, I think with a smile, I've already crossed so many - what's a few more?

* * *

 **The Thin Line - End Part 2**

 **Ending Notes:**

 **Well, there you have it. Were you able to piece together the mystery before its reveal? Was it disturbing enough for you?**

 **Reviews would be appreciated - it only takes a moment of your time, after all.**

 **In any case,**

 **Thank you for reading.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Before the start of this chapter, I would just like to take this moment to thank a reviewer out there who practically slapped on a Beta hat to both help me see some directions this story could go and also took time out of their holiday to give a scene I'd been working on a once-over.**

 **Thank you, RelentlessDarkness.**

 **Here you are, the third chapter of The Thin Line.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass or any of the characters listed in this piece; it is merely a sandbox that I am playing in and I earn no profit from this work other than the thrill of knowing others have read it.**

* * *

Lelouch Lamperouge leaned heavily against the countertop of his restroom's washbasin, clad in only a white towel about the waist as warm water ran in the sink; his rather blank stare was met with that of his reflection's in the mirror before him.

His hair was damp, no longer matted as it had been pre shower, though his eyes still bore some redness; their slightly bloodshot state the sole remaining physical reminder his body bore of his fitfull sleep the previous night.

And yet, despite practically scouring himself for nearly half an hour, he _still_ felt dirty.

He looked away from himself in a mixture of disgust and incredulity as he regarded the _other_ bit of evidence of the previous night's begetting; the clothes hamper contained _that_ particular damning remnant.

The young man breathed in deeply as he faced forward and down, peering into the drain that the gurgling water was disappearing beyond. He straightened, bringing his hands from where they were at rest to go about cupping at the flowing stream, bringing the pooled water up to scrub at his face as he - for not the first time - fell into tortured thought.

Unsurprisingly, his latest demons were of the previous day's making.

Shirley's death came completely out of left field for the former prince.

It went without saying that it had affected him more deeply than he'd care to admit; not because of some lingering attachment that went beyond that of one friend for another - no, but due to the unresolved guilt he still felt burdened by for his involvement in the death of her father. Guilt the young man felt he had no way of absolving himself of and was now compounded by the thoughts he'd had when first learning of her death; thoughts he'd revealed to himself last night.

Last night...

The complicated thoughts regarding the orangette weren't the only ones that haunted him from the previous evening.

 _Just what the hell was that?_

As if summoned by his question, images began to coalesce before his eyes, sounds accompanied by a certain voice before his ears, gradually resolving in detail and rising in volume like the end of an echo in reverse.

And with them, a particular stirring... _feeling._

Before anything could become clearly defined, he forcefully dispelled the growing maelstrom with another splash of warm water against his face.

Lelouch twisted the knobs on either side of the faucet, stemming the flow as he once again looked at his reflected visage; his hair hung low, an uneven arrangement of sharp ebony that partially obscured his vision - particularly in front of his right eye - as droplets ran along his bangs to their very tips before dripping onto the countertop.

Unfurling the towel from its wrapped state, the raven haired youth went about drying himself once again. He sighed into the soft, fluffy material before hanging it back up on the hooks on the door then moved to dawn the clothes he had set aside, earlier - a black long sleeved shirt and a pair of tan trousers.

And an _unsullied_ pair of boxers.

Opening the door connecting his bathroom and bedroom, Lelouch was confronted with the root of his latest dilemma; upon his bed - still sleeping, peaceful as could be - was his sister. She was turned in his direction and somewhat curled up as her breath came and went in a peaceful rythym.

He once more became aware of the niggling vestiges of a feeling he didn't want to acknowledge, as a wave of self loathing crashed over him. The former prince tore his eyes from her as he headed for the door that would lead to the hall and his escape; opening and then closing it behind him silently, while internally, he simultaneously slammed the door shut on his latest source of guilt and shame.

Unlike the wooden barrier he'd closed behind him, however, the figurative one wasn't so easily secured as traces of what lay beyond it seeped through the cracks.

The former prince tried to find something else to focus on and swiftly found it by way of smell as he entered the kitchen, where the sounds of clinking dishes and of something simmering and bubbling replaced the still ambiance of the dining room from whence he came.

His plodding steps must've been louder than he intended as the flitting-about form of his maid stilled and turned in one smooth motion, greeting him with a respectful bow.

"Good morning, young master." the Shinozaki offered.

"Good morning." he returned, rather blandly.

Not slowing his advance into the kitchen any, he continued on course to his original destination - the steaming coffee caraffe and its rather odorous contents.

That is, he _had_ proceeded on his set course, until he was intercepted by the brunette.

"Please, sir," the young woman began, "If you'll give me just a moment, I'll have yours and the young miss's breakfast ready shortly."

Not feeling up to fighting for control over this patch of territory this particular morning, Lelouch gave a mute nod before turning back around and shuffling back to the dining room where he seated himself at the head of the long wooden table.

Setting his elbow upon its mahogany surface while leaning forward, Lelouch dropped his forehead into his waiting palm and began to massage at his brows as he closed his eyes.

Moments later, he was joined by the young Japanese woman.

"Is the young miss still asleep?" Sayoko inquired upon entering from the kitchen, pushing a wheeled serving cart.

The youth's eyes opened slightly at the domestic's question even as she set a mug of coffee down in front of him. He immediately took hold of its handle and brought it to his lips for a sip - much like his mood, it was black.

"She was when I left the room." he responded as he sat the cup back down while the young maid began setting out two plates; one that contained a single biscuit, smattering of gravy and patty of sausage while the other bore half as much.

The maid's brow raised slightly in an unasked question as she completed her task, "I'll just go see to bringing her down then, sir."

Lelouch offered no response as he brought his hand away from his head to grasp at his cutlery, using his fork to pin down the golden fluffy mass of carbs while sawing into it with his knife at a rather lethargic pace.

Despite slightly more than ten minutes passing, the former prince had barely just finished cutting up his biscuit and sausage when Sayoko returned to the dining room, pushing a yawning Nunnally in her wheelchair. The youngest Lamperouge had been freshly changed into a white, knee-length spaghetti strap sundress and a pair of tan open-toe sandals.

"Good morning, brother." the strawberry blonde greeted with a small degree of warmth.

Without even taking his listless gaze away from his plate, the young man replied tepidly, "Good morning, Nunnally."

Once more the domestic's brow raised; the astute woman was finding her young master's demeanor somewhat curious; for as long as they had been in her care, she had always known him to put up a brave front for his sister; even several weeks ago, when he had learned of the death of his friend - the former Kururugi scion - he set aside his own emotions on the matter to be a pillar of support for his mourning sibling.

Still - she speculated - in light of yesterday's tragedy, perhaps things were just accumulating to a point that even the young man's seemingly unyielding resolve was beginning to show some cracks; while remarkably mature for his age and no stranger to loss and death, her young master did not have the sort of mental discipline that she did when it came to coping with losing a comrade - or in this case, a friend.

Two such losses in so short a time, she gathered, must be truly taking its toll.

So, despite his uncharacterically detached disposition, the brunette remained respectfully quiet as she siddled up to her youngest charge in order to aid in her dining.

The sound of the back-and-forth movement of a serrated knife on china as well the light scraping generated by a fork were the only two sources that served to break the otherwise quiet of the dining hall.

That was, until some minutes later when a certain blonde entered the spacious room unannounced.

Sayoko was the first to regard the young woman, who much like the other two youths in the room, appeared to be in somewhat of a state.

Judging from what she was wearing, perhaps even more so than her charges.

"Is it true?" the Ashford heiress asked, without preamble.

Her eyes were a miserable red and her hair was lacking its usual coiffure. Her attire reflected that she had not changed the previous night, as she was still wearing a silver evening gown, though she was sans the typical footwear that would accompany such garb; instead, a very out of place pair of house slippers swaddled her feet.

The sudden incursion seemed to finally provoke some semblence of life out of the elder Lamperouge as he tore himself away from his staring match with the now soggy, eviscerated remains of a once-biscuit that he'd been pushing about his plate. He briefly looked at Nunnally - whose mask of dim cheer had given way to an affect of sorrow - before rising from his seat to step around the table toward the blonde.

The young woman appeared about to speak again but the former prince gently took her by the shoulder and began to lead her out into the hallway.

He had only made it to just past the dining room's open doors when she shrugged off his hand and stared at him imploringly.

"Lelouch, is it true?" the blonde repeated with growing emotion, "Tell me, tell me it was just a nightmare!" the girl pleaded, her voice choking somewhat near the end.

The young man sighed, in no mood to really deal with this but as it served as a distraction from another uncomfortable situation, he'd do his level best, "I'm sorry, Milly. I-"

And that was far as he got as the young Ashford heiress collapsed against his chest and loosed a sob. His arms wrapped about her shoulders consolingly as the blonde began to saturate the front of his shirt with her tears.

¨`-.-´¨

As I hear the blonde trollop turn on the waterworks, I attempt to tune out her irksome wailing while carefully keeping my sorrowful facade in place.

I even shed a few tears.

Of frustration.

Not only is she interrupting my time with my Him, but judging from her muffled cries, that cunt is embracing my Beloved right now!

Really, you learn the BITCH is dead and that gives you the right to get grabby with _**MY**_ Lelou?!

I force my ire down with a shuddering sigh as the maid places a hand on my shoulder.

Yes, best to think of other things now. Like my dearest brother's sudden fixation with cleanliness.

Oh, but look at me; one moment I want to tear my hair out and now I want grin victoriously!

Of course, I do neither. Where was I? Oh yes...

After my gift of clarity to Him last night, I had to make certain that the only vestiges that remained behind were that of His own emissions. So, after flushing the soiled tissues, a quick washing out of my sore naughty bits and making a stop by my room to replace certain items, I returned to my Beloved's side and proceeded to massage Him to a second climax.

I will admit, I did take my time with that. I also had to fight the temptation to take Him into my mouth; I knew if I did that, I'd end up swallowing His eventual hot, creamy release and that just wouldn't do. He needed to leave it behind in his drawers, so it was a simple hands only affair.

The feel of His sturdy length against my palm, throbbing, twitching and then finally spilling Himself between my fingers... It goes without saying that I wasn't only stoking Him during that event.

He made a bit of a mess of my hand, but it was a rather delicious mess. I wasn't about to let it all go to waste, after all!

Ah... I can feel myself pulse in remembrance of His taste and scent...

It was a true test of will to leave it at just that, but I reminded myself I needed to continue to practice restraint.

For now...

Anyway, I'm sure it wasn't comfortable waking up in such a state, but He needed to see just what an _effect_ the thought of our coupling Has on His 'sleeping' mind.

No doubt, that was a major contributor to His unusual mood this wonderful morning.

And judging from my Beloved's solemn and reticent behavior thus far, I can tell our magical moment last night is indeed on His mind. Oh, He's having some trouble accepting things, but that is only to be expected.

My dear Lelou doesn't know what He's supposed to feel or think just yet.

Right about now, He should be stewing in His thoughts. He should be wondering which is the Correct way to feel about me.

My Beloved is alot like me when it comes to conundrums - we approach them from a place of familiarity. Which is to say, He is likely seeing the revelation of the 'dream' as a threat to His established way of thinking.

And, like me, He believes that He is right.

Unlike me, He is _wrong._

He is mistaken in this instance; my Lelou's a genius, but that doesn't mean He's right all of the time.

That dear brother of mine, He likely doesn't realize that He has it all backwards!

 _His_ current way of thinking is a threat.

To us.

That's why it needs to change.

Or rather, that's why He needs to come to His senses.

To that end, I will be as supportive of Him as I can be and give Him the appropriate 'gentle nudges' throughout the day.

In case He suffers a bout of rather extraordinary obliviousness, I have something special up my sleeve. I didn't use it last night for two reasons; for one, it's rather dangerous if used in conjunction with other drugs and for another, it just didn't fit the scenario. Anyway, it should prove quite effective in case He's being particularly obtuse.

And if He somehow _still_ doesn't come around in a timely fashion, well, He's going to have more of those 'dreams' and suffer a bit.

After all, I am feeling oh-so-broken up about that SLUT's death, I doubt I will be able to sleep alone for another day or so...

Even so, I shed a few honest tears of remorse as it really does pain me to have to put my Beloved through such inner turmoil... but, it's for us; if the price of His clarity is our short term mutual suffering, then that is a cross I will happily bear alongside Him.

After all, it's just like the saying goes:

You _only_ hurt the ones you love! Everyone else, you kill too.

But, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. For now, I need to proceed as planned.

Now if only the top heavy tart would take a hint and go cry somewh-

Oh?

It appears that goldie locks has stopped blubbering and they're drawing near the table.

Oh joy, it seems she believes I am in need of her emotional support. I wonder if I told her that I need her concern like I need a knife through the throat, she'd be offended enough to bugger off?

Hmmm...

How am I holding up? Well...

¨`-.-´¨

"I've... I've just been trying to wrap my head around the fact that she's gone," the younger Lamperouge responded with a forlorn look as fresh tears gathered at the corners of her eyes, "Thankfully, brother has really been there for me."

Milly gave a small watery smile at that as she sat down across the table from Nunnally, just to the left of the brother in question; count on Lelouch to be the perfect sibling when he himself must be suffering, the heiress thought.

"Can I get you anything, Miss Ashford?" the Shinozaki offered.

"Just a glass of water, Sayoko; I don't believe I'll be staying long," she replied as the maid bowed and went off to complete the request.

"Going somewhere so early?" the former prince inquired as he leaned back into his chair, his hand moving to close around the handle of the porcelain mug next to his mostly untouched plate.

The blonde turned to Lelouch after heaving a sigh, "I believe grandfather has likely invited Mrs. Fenette to meet with him sometime this morning. I was a bit out of it last night, after..." the young woman paused as her eyes appeared ready to spill their shimmering contents, before she took a calming breath and continued, "After he first got the _call._ Things were a bit of a blur after that but, once we'd returned home, I thought I heard him saying something about having made some arrangements for today with her."

She smoothed out her dress against her thigh, "A death on campus is a serious affair and due to how he had things handled - so discretely, I mean - well, she likely has _questions_." she scoffed without much emotion, "Though, that would be putting it mildly. I can only imagine how she's taking things." the blonde swiped at a freshly fallen tear, "She just lost her husband, and now this..."

The Ashford heiress put her next words on hold as Sayoko returned to the dining hall and handed her the requested glass of water, which she took a slow sip from before setting on the table and continuing, "In any event," she breathed in a calming breath, "I plan on accompanying him; I've met the woman before and she knows her daughter was my best friend." she swept her gaze from the glass to the girl across from her, then to the young man who was nursing his own drink of choice, "One of my best friends, anyway."

Lelouch offered a lukewarm smile to the blonde and he sat his mug back down as she continued, "Would you two be willing to come with me?" she floated out the offer, "I know Shirley had told her mother all about the other members of the Council; I'm sure she'd like to put some faces to her daughter's stories."

The Black Prince considered the offer; there were two parts of him that wanted to accept - one of which was the same part that harboured guilt regarding the late orangette - but the larger part of him realized he had to decline the overture; despite his uneasy thoughts regarding the previous night, there was somewhere else he needed to be.

That is to say, there was _someone_ else who would be needing his presence - someone that he'd rather callously been avoiding due to no fault of her own.

Just when it looked like that individual was going to speak up, he preempted her.

"I'm sorry, Milly, but I don't think we'll be able to accompany you," the young man replied, raising his eyes from their black-tinted reflection within his cup to meet hers, "The detective from yesterday is going to be coming by again to speak with Nunnally today and I intend to be there with her for that."

"I see," the heiress finished off the rest of her water before sighing and nodding slowly, "I can't fault either of you for that. I did just kind of drop this on the both of you."

The former royal offered an apologetic look before shifting his gaze from the blonde's blue orbs to a set of brown, "Sayoko, when exactly did you say he would be stopping by?"

The so-named woman withdrew her phone from a pocket on the apron of her uniform, flipped it open and pressed a few keys before she returned it while responding, "Between ten thirty and eleven, sir."

While the young man was glancing at his watch and noting that it was five till ten, his sister spoke up, "I'm sorry, Milly," the strawberry blonde began gloomily, "If I had been in a calmer state of mind yesterday, I could've answered the man's questions and then brother and I could've gone with you today."

The blonde was having none of that as she rose from her seat and rounded the table, "It's alright, Nunna," she assured as she gave the petite girl a hug, "I can hardly blame you for being human. I was a mess last night and even this morning, myself, after all."

The princess incognito looked up from the blonde's chest, "If the interview doesn't take too long, would you want us to still come by?"

Lelouch looked away from his watch at his sister's words while the heiress responded, "Would you?"

The strawberry blonde nodded as the Queen-of-the-Council looked over her shoulder at the elder Lamperouge, "Do you know what time Ruben will be meeting with her?" he asked.

"I'm not sure..." she began, releasing the petite girl from the cuddle, "I'm pretty sure it'll be before noon, though; last night was... a bit hazy, but I do recall grandfather dropping the word 'early'."

"Well," the former prince started before sighing, "It would be rather rude for us to barge in on it in progress and because you aren't certain when it will be exactly..." he dithered.

"I understand, Lelouch. I really shouldn't be inviting you two to something I'm already inviting myself to." she relented with a sigh of her own, "I... should be going, then; I need to go get ready," she glanced down at herself, "This is hardly mourning wear," she looked from the young girl to her former maid before settling on the prince-in-disguise, "I'll see you guys later, and if not today, then tomorrow. Take care, you three."

As the Ashford heiress departed the dining room amidst varied farewells, one of the remaining three had forced themself to come to a conclusion.

Lelouch took another sip of his coffee as he firmed his resolve; while there'd been a part of him that felt he should attend the meeting out of unresolved guilt, there was another that had wanted to latch onto Milly's offer out of a far more selfish and cowardly reason - and to do so alone - but he'd managed to reign it in with cold logic.

That part of him wanted to put distance between himself and Nunnally; it was the same part he'd already acquiesced to when he'd left his sister without waking her; the same that had been finding his meal and cup of coffee to be the most interesting things in the room ever since Sayoko wheeled her in.

Now, however, having had some time to think on things, the former heir to the throne had retrospectively found himself to have been acting foolish since the moment he'd woken up.

Last night, the prince incognito rationalized, was just a dream; a rather vivid and unsettling dream, yes, but one that had been the product of the stress that precipitated it - Shirley's death and the guilty sense of relief that Nunnally's survival brought.

That, he decided, was all there was to it - there was absolutely no reason to feel any different around his sister. And besides - he continued to assure himself - being a dream, he would likely soon forget it anyway.

So, his logical stance set, the young man sat his cup back down and began to try to make some progress finishing the meal set before him.

And yet, despite his sound reasoning, another ten minutes had slipped by in relative silence. The food, though prepared by his very capable domestic, seemed bland and tasteless to him. Finally, after another handful of minutes had passed, something that was not the scrape of utensil nor slurp of drink was heard, as his sister spoke up, "Brother?"

The elder Lamperouge took his eyes off his plate - which he hadn't consciously realized he'd been staring at once more - and turned them to his sibling. Her brows were slightly furrowed in a combined state of trepidation and confusion as he replied, "Yes, Nunnally?"

The girl's face remained unchanged, though she did tilt her head slightly, "Is there something wrong? You've been rather... quiet."

Lelouch heard her words but, despite himself, he had been captivated by the movement of her strawberry blonde trusses as they skimmed along her pale, exposed shoulder. He blinked calmly; in the span of of his fluttering eyelid, he redirected his gaze to her unseeing eyes, "No, Nunnally," he partially lied, his tone colored by the barest hint of his anxiety, "There's just alot on my mind at the moment and I suppose I've been letting my thoughts get away from me."

There was another moment of silence as the former prince's scrutiny again fell upon his plate, which wasn't getting any less cluttered with the food he hadn't eaten.

Meanwhile, the younger Lamperouge had finished her meal and she calmly tapped on the wrist of the woman aiding her before motioning her to lean in so that she could speak to her quietly. The maid kept her ear near her mistress's lips for a moment then rose back to her full height and tapped her once on the shoulder before collecting the young girl's plate and flatware and departed to the kitchen.

The byplay was missed by the lone male of the residence, who in that span of time managed to only eat one more forkfull of gravy-saturated biscuit chunk.

"Brother," the girl tried again, once more drawing the young man's attention as his gaze shifted to her closed orbs and, though a couple seconds late on the uptick, realized they were now alone, "Would you like to talk about it?" she asked, concern clear in both her voice and on her features.

 _No,_ the youth replied internally; despite how he'd laid things out for himself earlier, the former royal had been growing increasingly... wary of looking at his sister. Again, he tried to counter, he was being rediculous - he knew the source of his discomfort and it had actually nothing to do with her. He was being irrational, and if there was one thing Lelouch Lamperouge hated, it was being motivated or pushed about by irrational thought; it was an irrational line of thinking that his loathsome sperm donor espoused and championed - that, for instance, becoming crippled would make you a worthless nothing or if you were shot to death in your own home you were weak.

That he was, for even a moment, allowing himself to be cowed by such blatant illogic caused the former royal to gnash his teeth in self-directed frustration.

Having grown slightly worked up by his spiraling thoughts, Lelouch replied somewhat testily, "No. I would _not_ like to talk about it."

The eldest Lamperouge then blinked as he saw his sister's face fall from the concern it held to the state of melancholy that had been present on her features earlier, when Milly had first entered the dining hall and proceeded to break down. It was that shift in her countenance that made Lelouch realize what he'd just done.

He immediately rose from his seat, moved to his sister and leaned in, gently putting his arms around her, "I'm sorry, Nunnally," he spoke softly as he internally cursed himself for taking out his agitation at his own inexplicable behaviour on her, "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that; you didn't deserve that." he rested his chin in her hair as he rubbed small circles between her shoulders.

The former princess wrapped her own smaller arms about her brother's torso and pressed her forehead to his chest, "You're always there for me, Lelou," she began, "If I can be there for you in any way, I will. Whatever is troubling you, you can always talk to me about it. You know that, don't you?"

The Black Prince knew the offer was entirely genuine and he really did want to honor her concern with his honesty, but there were some things you just didn't tell others, Lelouch thought, especially if you've had some sort of stress induced sexual delusion about them. Moreover, if that one you'd had such a dispicable episode over was your own sister.

Even as he had those self-deriding and chastising thoughts, something the youth had tried to repress wriggled within him due to his nearness to her; the feel of the smooth skin of his sister's back, partially exposed by the conservative cut of her dress and the smell of her lavender shampoo wafting up from her hair were as embers to tinder and Lelouch stilled for a moment, unconsciously luxuriating in both before suddenly opening his eyes widely - realizing just what was going through his mind.

The young man slowly began to pull away from his sibling; his face going blank as he attempted to purge the impure feelings that had infiltrated his initially innocent gesture of reassurance. For her part, the younger Lamperouge made no move to halt her brother's sudden retreat, merely instead tilting her head up with brows furrowed, as if to look at him in question.

This however served to stall the former prince once more as he was suddenly exposed to his sister's soft and feminine visage; the way her fair hair flowed about and framed her angelic face, the way her delicate brows were lifted and arched just-so, the way her cheeks were slightly dusted a faint carmine.

The way her lips appeared so inviting; two pouting scarlet morsels that gleamed as if dampened by dew and looked infinitely soft...

Lelouch caught himself beginning to lean in and immediately turned his head to the side, "I'm not quite sure what I'm thinking that's bothering me," he told another half-truth, mentally kicking himself for both trampling upon and sullying her act of compassion with these suddenly resurging, disturbing feelings as well as for what he had almost just done, "And I think that may be part of the problem. There's just been one tragedy after the next as of late, I guess it's all starting to wear on me to the point where I'm thinking unnecessary things." he partially leveled with her even as he released her from his embrace.

He fled to his seat and brought his cup to his lips - suddenly quite thirsty - and drained it of the last of the bitter brew. The former prince returned his mug to the doily before looking back up at his sister, who looked a mixture of sad yet thoughtful, "Just knowing you're willing to hear me out is help enough, Nunnally." he said with a small but neutral smile - a smile that was as honest as he could make it.

The girl smiled in response, unknowingly far more warmly than his, "I'll always be willing to hear you out, brother."

The two fell into a somewhat amicable silence for a few moments before Sayoko reentered the room and took up a position near her older ward. The young man looked briefly over his shoulder before sighing and handing his unfinished portion to the maid with an apologetic look, "I'm sorry, Sayoko - I guess I don't have much of an appetite this morning."

The woman accepted the dish with a small upturn of her lips, "It's quite alright, sir. I-"

The young maid was interrupted by a rapid chirping coming from within her apron. She removed the offending item - her phone - with her unoccupied hand and flipped it open before pressing a single key and closing it, returning it to its pocket, "In five minutes it will be turning half past, sir."

"Right," Lelouch began, rising from his seat once more and skirting the table to stand behind his sister, "Are you ready to get this over with, Nunnally?" he asked as he once more forced himself to squash the unsettling feelings her proximity brought.

The young girl exhaled then gave a nod and the former prince set about guiding her wheelchair to the sitting room, where they would begin the wait for their anticipated guest.

* * *

Hudson Dewitt was an obstinate and slightly bigoted forty six year old detective that, before he'd fallen so far and become the man he was today, many would have said had a rather cliche ideology; he had believed in following his gut.

Nearly a decade ago, soon after the completion of the Tokyo Settlement, the then straight-laced Detective Dewitt's gut instincts had seen to the arrest of several kidnappers turned murderers. It was simultaneously the brightest and darkest moment of his otherwise unimpressive career; while the perps (a trio of teenage Eleven boys) had been nabbed, it wasn't until after the victim (a ten year old daughter of a noble family) had been repeatedly and brutally assaulted and had died of her injuries.

Hudson was there when her body was found. That night was when he began his battle with the sauce.

To this day, the now jaded detective had continued with his once-creed - though now in a far more literal sense, due to how heavy set he was. He owed his pot belly mostly to the drinking problem he hadn't been able to kick.

That drinking problem was the reason the paunchy man found himself once more driving to the ultra-liberal Ashford Academy. Or rather, 'complications' due to his drinking problem.

Several years ago, Hudson had gotten into something that he'd like to call a 'minor fender bender' with a certain individual.

Now normally, as a member of the far from moral Area Police Department and a detective no less, he'd be able to cow the average individual he may get into a 'minor fender bender' with into taking the blame for it.

He should know - he'd done it once before.

He'd intended to do it again, as an Eleven woman got out of the driver's seat.

The detective had been ready to lay it on thick and threaten to revoke her Honorary Britannian status while he was at it, until another person exited the vehicle from the rear passenger side - this one, very much Britannian and also someone the then paling detective recognized.

Despite the detective's many failings, he had a good memory for faces and one of the things all members of the local APD (Area Police Department) would do is familiarize themselves with the who's who of nobility in their jurisdiction, in case their investigations would bring them into contact with them; after all, it wouldn't do for one's career to offend the elites.

Well, it just so happened that in this particular instance, the individual the detective had gotten into a 'minor fender bender' with was one Ruben K. Ashford, being driven by his Eleven maid and the car itself had been - until the 'minor fender bender' - a rather streamlined luxury vehicle.

Now, Dewitt knew the Ashfords weren't quite as vaunted as they once were, but they certainly still had more pull than a senior detective.

Hudson knew his career was basically done, right then and there. Goodbye pension.

That was, until Mr. Ashford decided to offer the portly man - upon learning of his vocation - an out in the form of certain terms, that should he agree to, the 'minor fender bender' would be forgotten.

What the aging Ashford head outlined was simple: from time to time in the future, he may have need of something investigated, quietly.

Needless to say, Dewitt's gut was telling him those terms were agreeable.

Now, as the corpulent investigator exited his unmarked cruiser from where he'd parked it in the academy's lot, his gut was telling him that one of the reasons for which he'd had to return to the campus this day was a waste of his time.

The old noble had called in his favor the day previous and Hudson had come running; the scene he found, while a shame, wasn't anything special - a teenage girl had gotten clumsy and taken a tumble while holding a knife; she'd obviously tried to brace her fall, but didn't let go of the implement of her own undoing and ended up sticking herself - fatally so; it wasn't the first time he'd run into a situation like that, though more than half the cases of the like involved scissors and younger decedents.

Age didn't equate to intelligence, Hudson reflected dryly.

The only 'witness', if you could call her that, was a blind cripple of a girl who'd been asleep during the incident; Detective Dewitt was _sure_ that what she would have to say would be earth shattering.

Or perhaps, he mused, eye-opening would be a better term.

At any rate, it should have been open and shut; concluded by the end of the day.

Dewitt had already interviewed the maid (who was, _of course_ , the same Eleven from those years ago); being certain the cause of death was accidental, he was not truly suspicious of the servant but he hassled her regarding her whereabouts, nonetheless; in part out of professionalism, but mostly out of unabated pettiness.

Her allibi of having to run an errand had been easily confirmed; both the outside portion of the academy's campus and the street the PO box she had claimed to visit during the EMT's estimated time of death had camera coverage.

After her, he then only needed to get a statement from the little cripple girl but after she'd been awakened and informed of what had happened, she'd freaked out. So, he had to postpone taking it until today, when he'd be meeting with the deceased's mother and the man holding his leash to discuss his findings.

Of course, the findings Hudson would be sharing with the bereaved mother and the headmaster of the academy would be lacking the supplemental information he'd be having to add to his final write up from the autopsy reports he'd be getting come Monday, but that was irrelevant; it's not like they'd tell him anything new.

Girl plus knife plus fall equals death. End of story. Well, that oversimplified explanation of events wasn't what he'd relate to the poor woman, but it would follow the same line of thought.

As he neared what was essentially a mansion but for whatever reason passed as the school's student council's clubhouse, Hudson couldn't help but shake his head; though he'd attended private schools in his day and thus was initiated to the garish ways of the high born, he could only find the building whose front steps he was now climbing pointlessly ostentatious.

As the rotund man straightened his tie, he gave the large oak doors a solid knock. In mere seconds, one was opened by the Eleven maid he'd had the misfortune to meet twice before.

"Miss Sheenosacky." he greeted with a nod of the head.

"Shinozaki," the woman corrected without heat before stepping back and aside to let him through, "The young miss and young master are waiting for you in the sitting room." she continued as he passed her.

"Ah, right. Sorry about that, hope I didn't offend." the detective lied; he remembered her name just fine, he just wanted to needle the stoic bint.

"Think nothing of it." the woman replied as blandly as before as she closed the door, before passing Hudson and partially turning to him, her hand raised to gesture at a hallway to their right, "Please follow me."

The detective nodded wordlessly as he accompanied the young Eleven woman to their destination; a rather spacious and decorated room that had, among other things, several armchairs and couches tastefully arranged to either side of a long coffee table.

Seated in her wheelchair on the far side of the table was the girl - Nunnally Lamperouge, if he recalled correctly - and, standing next to her, a raven haired boy with rather piercing purple eyes who looked to be anywhere from two to four years older than her.

Judging from the similarities in their facial features, Hudson gathered that they were related; siblings or perhaps cousins.

The detective stepped around a particular comfy looking armchair as he neared the table, "Good morning. I am Detective Dewitt," he directed his greeting to the young man.

The boy remained where he was but gave a nod of his head, "Lelouch Lamperouge. I believe you are here to speak with my sister?"

"Yes, that is correct," he began before looking at the girl who's brow and tilt of lips denoted... resignation, perhaps? She certainly appeared to be trying to hold back sorrow, if the tightness around her eyes was anything to go by, "Miss Lamperouge, this shouldn't take long." Hudson withdrew his pen - which he clicked - and his notepad, flipping open the little book to the pages past the notes on the 'case' so far, "Now, I realize that recalling what happened yesterday may be painful, but please bear with me. I've spoken with your maid, so I have her input already, but please tell me about your time alone yesterday with Miss Fenette."

The little blind girl took a breath before she started to speak.

"Shirley and I had stayed behind to work on a poster for a dance coming up this following week," the strawberry blonde haired girl began as the detective's pen danced across the pad, "We discussed some ideas for it and came to an agreement that clipping pictures from magazines and pasting them would be the way to go.

"The theme of the dance was 'embracing and unleashing your inner animal'," the girl lightly blushed while Hudson fought valiantly against raising his brow at the avante garde idea as he continued to write, "Shirley would tell me what animals she found in one set of magazines and different types of apparel she found in another before giving out her ideas of combinations while I'd offer my own opinions on them."

Dewitt paused, looking somewhat dubiously up past his notebook, "And, you were able to offer your opinion, how?"

The young girl elaborated, "I wasn't always blind, Mister Dewitt."

"Understood. Please, continue." his attention returned to his notes, thus missing the momentary tightness in the older Lamperouge's eyes.

"When we'd agree on a combination, she'd cut them out." the crippled girl licked her lips, "She was having some difficulty with the cut the scissors provided so she switched to using a knife of some sort. Anyway, it went on like that for..." she paused, tilting her head and tapping her left index finger on the armrest of her wheelchair, "For a bit more than an hour? I'm sorry, I don't know exactly how long."

"That's fine, Miss Lamperouge." Hudson assured, only taking his eyes off his pad every few seconds as he prepared for her next words.

The blind girl continued with a shaky sigh and her brother placed his hand over her left on the armrest, "My involvement was rather minimal and I had grown somewhat tired by that time."

"At around the 'more than an hour' mark?" the detective sought clarification.

"Yes... well, I had become a tad listless by then and Shirley apparently noticed. She suggested we take a break," it was becoming obvious to Dewitt that it was getting more difficult for her to speak as her brows seemed to tighten further, as if trying to clamp down on her emotion, "She offered to go make some tea but I asked Sayoko - my domestic - to do so instead; I asked for Valerian Root - it's my favorite. Shirley got a little put off, for not being chosen as the brewer," he noticed a small, sad smile stretch her lips before she continued, "And I teased her about the last time she tried to make something in the kitchen."

The detective noticed a similarly melancholic smile now on the young man's face before his attention returned to being split between the crippled girl and his pad, "Anyway, Sayoko returned with our tea shortly thereafter and said she had to go take care of something and that she'd be back in fifteen minutes or so. After she left..." the Lamperouge girl's mask of calm began to fracture as her brows furrowed and the sides of her lips twitched in a pouting frown.

"... we began drinking and enjoying the silence. Shirley... she finished her tea first. She said she wanted to get back to cutting out more things from the magazines and that I could continue to take it easy. I... I just continued to relax with my tea... I-" her voice hitched as a tear escaped her closed left eye and her brother linked his fingers with the hand of hers he was holding, "I must've fallen as-asleep sometime after then. The," the blind girl nearly choked on her words, but forced them out, "The next thing... the next thing I knew, Sayoko wuh- was waking me and... an- and-!" unsurprisingly, the girl just lost it right there and began sobbing.

Her brother released her hand and knelt near her wheelchair, embracing her over her armrest in a hug while the detective sighed and scratched at the side of his jaw, waiting for the little blind girl to regain her composure.

Over the course of five more minutes, the girl was gradually brought back to calm by her older sibling. He unwrapped one of his arms from around her, leaving the other behind her back with his hand clasped on her opposite shoulder while he remained kneeling next to her. Just looking at how he rested on his knees made the detective's ache in sympathy.

"Your questions if you would, Detective." the young man spoke rather commandingly, which caused Dewitt to raise a brow before shrugging off the near-insult of being ordered about by a boy.

In any case, Hudson concluded that the statement was as complete as it was going to get; it had synced up with the maid's words and his own memory of when they'd awoken the crippled girl, after all.

"Actually..." the detective spoke as he finished jotting down her attestation before looking up at her and shutting the pad, "That's all I needed from you, Miss Lamperouge. Thank you for your cooperation," he turned to regard the raven haired youth, "Mister Lamperouge," and then back to the blind girl, "Young lady; for what it's worth you two, I'm sorry for your loss."

The detective then turned back to the maid, "Now, if you would Miss Shinozacky, could you lead me to the headmaster's office? I believe he is expecting me."

The Eleven woman gave a nod and headed for the door, Detective Hudson Dewitt on her heels.

* * *

A silent moment had passed after Sayoko and the stout investigator departed, before the younger Lamperouge turned her head in the direction of her brother, "It sounds like Mr. Dewitt is going to be a part of that meeting between Mr. Ashford and Mrs. Fenette," she worried her lip before continuing, "Are you sure we couldn't go and join Milly?"

Lelouch gently withdrew his arm from behind his sister's back as he rose to his feet. Since his maid and the detective had left, he'd been uncomfortably aware that they were once more alone and he didn't trust himself being so close to her.

And he felt that self-directed mistrust was well deserved.

Though the young man had been maintaining the contact with her as a gesture of comfort, all throughout he couldn't drive away how conscious of her body he'd been; how warm she'd felt, how delicate her shoulder was, how nicely she'd smelled.

They were not musings, the former royal railed at himself, that one should have when embracing one's sister.

"I don't think it would be a good idea, Nunnally," he took a much needed step away from her before turning to face her, "Aside from what I said already, there was another reason that I hadn't brought up when Milly was here," he paused, "I think it would be best if you not meet with Mrs. Fenette just yet." he revealed as he crossed his arms.

The strawberry blonde raised a brow, "Whyever not, brother?" she asked, setting her hands in her lap.

"It may be unfair for me to judge her without having ever met her," he began as his eyes sought refuge in a painting of white galloping horses on the wall beyond his sibling, "But, with her loss so fresh, she may be looking for something to assuage her feelings; somewhere to lay blame and there's a chance she may latch onto you and hold you partially accountable for what happened - as unfair as that would be."

He sighed before concluding, "While there's only a chance it could happen, it's a chance I wouldn't want for you to have to take; you've been through enough already, Nunnally."

The former princess tilted her head in thought - a gesture that returned her sibling's attention to her - before her expression, which hadn't really lightened much from when she broke down several minutes ago once more grew morose, "Would it... really be so unfair?" she wrung her hands in her lap, "If I hadn't fallen asleep, maybe she... maybe it never would have happened. Maybe I could've done something..."

The young man drew close to her again, his need to provide comfort overcoming his prudence, placing a hand on her small shoulder while looking down at her woeful mien, "What happened was an accident, Nunnally," he spoke gently, giving her shoulder a light squeeze while doing his level best to ignore his wonder at how supple her skin was, "Punishing yourself for what you 'could have done'... Don't let yourself think like that."

Lelouch's last words were not only for her, but also directed at himself as he fought to keep his eyes on her face.

Nunnally lifted her head as if to look up at him, her lips still pursed in a slight frown as tears welled in the corners of her closed eyes, "Regardless of what I _think,_ brother, I can't help the way I _feel_." she persisted, as one drop broke free and began to run down her face.

The former prince lifted his hand from her shoulder quickly to extend his forefinger to her cheek, swiping the tear away - his actions an unconscious series of movements as he was put off balance by his sister's words, which seemed to be a direct rebuttal of his own veiled self-admonishment.

His finger must have lingered on her cheek longer than he thought as the young girl's brows furrowed slightly more than her somber expression already had them arranged, "Brother?"

Unbidden, the former princess's entreaty - spoken with a tone of timid curiosity - overlapped with her far more heated timbre from his lurid dream. Despite himself, the Black Prince's eyes trailed down her visage; her cherubic face tinted in sorrowful perplexion, her tempting pouting lips and delicate jaw, her thin and milky neck and...

When the young man had realized he had just confirmed his sister wasn't wearing a bra, he tried to shake himself out of the haze that had seemed to consume him; he drew in a quick breath and took his hand away from her face as if it had been burned, which in a sense it had - by his own twisted solicitousness.

Unlike before in the dining hall, Nunnally seemed to pick up on her sibling's odd behaviour, "Brother? What's wrong?" she reached out, feeling for and lightly grasping the retreating appendage.

Lelouch didn't immediately know how to respond as his sister held his hand gently. Her face began to bleed from sorrow into concern as he quickly regurgitated an excuse, "I'm sorry, Nunnally, I just... fell into my thoughts a bit again."

The young girl shook her head lightly, "No, Lelou, don't be. I know I'm not the only one suffering right now," she turned in her chair slightly to better face him as she brought her other hand in to join the one already holding his, encapsulating it between both her palms, "What happened yesterday... I can tell it's really bothering you."

The former prince knew Nunnally was speaking about Shirley's death, and yet, he couldn't help a frisson of panic and shame as flashes of the dream rapidly replayed before his eyes as she continued, "You don't need to hold it in, brother," she leaned forward slightly, inadvertently offering him a clear view down the front of her dress while she moved his hand back up to the side of her face he'd touched earlier, letting one of her own hands fall back into her lap as she pressed his palm to her cheek with the other, nestling against it.

The young man's mind began a slow boil as he was subjected to his sister's unintentional appeal; once more he marveled at how warm and smooth she was to the touch while her breath washed over his wrist and her hidden, sightless eyes seemed to bore straight through him even as his own began to drift down to her lips.

"Please?" the strawberry blonde pleaded, her brow furrowing slightly more as those vermilion lips of hers pulled into a slightly pouting frown, "Share what you're feeling with me?"

Before the youth could offer any form of response, the door to the parlour reopened, admitting Sayoko. The Japanese woman paused after clearing the threshold upon beholding the obviously personal moment between her charges.

Lelouch seized upon the interruption like a drowning man would a life preserver, "Sayoko," he began, lightly pulling free from his sister's grasp and taking a step away from her, "I trust you were able to direct the detective to Ruben's office?"

The young domestic blinked before responding, "Yes, sir."

He knew the answer to the rather redundant question, but he was grasping at straws for an opportunity to re-exert his slipping self-control.

"Sayoko, could I trouble you a moment?" the former princess adjured her maid before turning back in the direction of her sibling, "I hope you will consider my words, brother. It feels much better when you let it all out."

The Black Prince was silent as the Japanese woman crossed the room to his sister's side and leaned in when she was directed to. He was only partially aware that, a moment later, his sibling had been wheeled out of the sitting room; he bit the inside of his cheek as he once more tried to push away the phantasmal images that had plagued him all morning.

Despite his self-castigation however, the elder Lamperouge could still clearly recall the smooth warmth of his sibling's skin. The wriggling feeling he'd felt earlier returned, resolving itself into a clear and concise thought; a thought he thoroughly detested himself for having, but could no longer deny the existence of.

The desire to feel her again.

* * *

As Sayoko stepped away from her youngest ward's bedroom door, shutting it lightly behind her to give her more privacy as she used its attached facilities, she thought back on the scene she'd intruded upon moments ago.

The two were, in her opinion, clearly having a moment of familial solidarity before she had interrupted them; the brunette was of two minds about her actions; on the one hand, she felt she had done right by returning as swiftly as possible - as was her duty - but on the other, if she had delayed a bit then the two could have likely made some progress on their mutual grief, and thus she felt she failed them by being prompt.

She tried to shake her concern away - what was done, was done - and focused instead on the short conversation she had just had with her mistress.

On the way to being led to her restroom, Miss Lamperouge had explained that her brother may want some time alone, as the previous day's events seemed to really be weighing heavily on him, and - despite her own emotional state - she was willing to grant him that.

In the meantime, the young lady had expressed wanting to do something nice for him and requested the undercover kunoichi's aid in whipping up some sugar cookies - to quote her youngest charge, "Not even brother is immune to the effects a bit of sweets can have on one's mood."

It truly was the case of the shoe being on the other foot, witnessing her young mistress being the one to step up to comfort her young master; then again - the Shinozaki thought, sagely, the young lass was more mature than her outward appearance would denote.

"Guard duty, is it now?" a lazy voice asked from the Japanese woman's left, breaking her from her thoughts.

Turning her head in the direction of the voice, Sayoko replied, "Good morning, Miss C.C.," she eyed the limette who was stretching her arms above her head - pushing out her chest in the process - as she walked languidly down the hall in the servant's direction.

The ageless woman slowed her already slothful gait to a stop as she half turned to regard the maid, "So, how is your 'little miss'?"

The Shinozaki blinked at the uncharacteristic touch of concern the question embodied and was about to reply before the enigmatic woman continued, "Well enough now that'll be getting my bed back?"

Blinking once more due to the antics of the manor's most whimsical tenant, she responded appropriately, "I cannot say. Unless directed to by them otherwise, it is not my place to discuss the well being of my wards."

There was a moment of silence as the immortal fixed her with a piercing stare that was unnerving even to one of the maid's true calling, causing her to reconsider, "But if we're just speaking of my impressions," she began with some hesitation, "I would say she at least appears to be fairing better than last night, though I believe she is just trying to seem strong for the young master's sake," the brunette's eagle eyes caught the limette's brow raise a tiny fraction, as if urging her to be succint, "So, I repeat: I cannot say."

The golden-eyed woman huffed and turned away from the young maid, resuming her lackadaisical strut down the hall. The brunette's eyes tracked the white garbed woman as she brazenly entered her young master's room. The chocolate eyed woman briefly considered following after her until the limette exited seconds later - a small, rectangular card grasped between the middle and index fingers on her right hand as she padded down the hall to the stairs.

The maid idly wondered how her master's accounts survived the constant drain the residence's most capricious member subjected them to, before her attention was brought back to the door behind her as the muted voice of her youngest charge called out from within, "Sayoko? I'm finished."

And with that, the Japanese woman entered the room to retrieve her mistress from its adjacent lavatory.

* * *

The eldest Lamperouge had remained in the sitting room ever since the departure of his maid and his sister, having unconsciously moved to seat himself in one of the brown leather armchairs that faced the doorway leading into the hall.

As his rear had fallen into the seat of it, he'd figuratively descended into his thoughts, which had ever since become a poisonous spiral that started and ended at the same point.

Lelouch needed to be there for his sister.

The young man knew the girl was suffering due to Shirley's death, likely more than he was; after all, she had said as much - believing that because she was in the room with the orangette when it happened, she could've done something to prevent it.

The former royal wanted alleviate her of the blame she was unfairly assigning herself - to offer her comfort - like he tried to last night. But when it came to thoughts of last night and his sister, different connotations accompanied the word comfort, and a certain feeling tried to assert itself; the sort of which he knew was foul and wrong in regards to her.

That feeling had been causing the former prince no shortage of distress, distress which Nunnally had been picking up on. She could, ironically, 'see' that he was conflicted and hiding something from her and had wished for him to open up to her about it... but, how could he? If he did, she would see just how sick he was.

So, Lelouch had tried to put his foot down; he tried to subdue his feelings through the cold application of logic, but so far on that front he'd failed - he'd nearly acted on what he was trying to repress.

Twice.

The only other solution the young man could think of was one he'd already set aside as unconscionable and cowardly - that being, trying to put distance between himself and Nunnally; in other words, trying to run away... and yet, if he did that, then he would be leaving her to suffer alone.

He couldn't do that to her. He _wouldn't_ do that to her.

Lelouch needed to be there for his sister.

And thus his thoughts continued to spin for an uncounted number of turns of the clock, as he involuntarily committed one of the sins he sought to avoid perpetrating; running away by remaining stationary.

He was only vaguely mindful of the white-clad form that plopped down on the sofa accross the coffee table from him, their amber eyes boring into his. As the intruder made no other call to attention, the young man put the barely acknowledged disturbance from his mind.

The former prince wasn't aware how much longer he sat there in silence, brooding, until his attention was again stirred, "Well, boya, is this all it takes to derail you?" a female voice asked rather blandly.

The Black Prince blinked, finally registering that he wasn't alone in the parlour any longer, "What?" he asked, rather dumbly.

His interlocutor cocked a lime green brow and shifted on the couch so that she was laying down on her side, stretching her legs out over the forest green cushions as she propped her head on her palm, her arm bent at the elbow beneath it. She looked at him like he was some vaguely amusing insect.

One that she was pondering whether to cup in her hands and release outside or bring her heel down on and squash.

"I said," she repeated, with no more heat than before, "Is this all it takes to derail you, boya? The death of someone known to you? Will that be all it takes to cool your ambition?" her lips tilted just enough to barely hint at a smile.

Finally processing her words, the former prince let some of the anger that had been so impotent in his swirling cogitations out, "Easily said for you, witch," gone was the placid student Lelouch Lamperouge and in stepped the vengeful vi Britannia, as venom left his lips, "You, who do not even know death, would so readily mock those touched by it."

The woman whose body didn't give time the time of day merely arched her already cocked brow, unimpressed, "I've known death many times; its touched me more than a randy lover, boya, but we're not talking about me," her eyes hardened, if only slightly, "Is the death of one known to you all it takes for you to be reduced to..." she gestured at him with the arm that had been draped lengthwise along her body, "This? Sitting in a room, all by yourself, staring off into space?"

That that was how the timeless woman spent most of her days went unsaid.

The Prince rose from his seat but made no effort to move thereafter as he leveled a glare at the white clad enchantress, "It wasn't just 'one' death," he spat, "It was one death after another," his hands raked through his hair as he looked off to the side, breathing in deeply before exhaling, "It wasn't supposed to happen like this. People from this school, their families, they were supposed to go on living."

The ageless beauty rolled onto her back and tucked both her hands behind her head as one of her legs bent at the knee, "And you believe that you're, what, supposed to be responsible for them all? People die, boya," the barest hint of amusement that had been on her face melted away into her stoic facade, "Whether or not you've affected their deaths, people die. If you cannot handle that truth, then your goals will forever remain beyond your reach," her eyes swiveled to the side to regard the young man out of their corners, "But perhaps, that would be for the best; if you set aside your vendetta, fulfilling my wish becomes a less dangerous prospect." her eyes then rolled back away from him to stare at the ceiling.

Lelouch's attention once more focused on the lounging woman, "No," he began with a small measure of vehemence, "No, I will not 'set my vendetta aside'," he breathed again, letting the fire that had seen to his rising to his feet calm, as he continued, "I can't stop, not yet," he sighed, "My 'ambition' isn't about me, after all."

"Then perhaps you should keep that in mind the next time you see fit to seclude and imprison yourself within your own musings." she admonished lightly.

While not in any mood to argue, the ravenette was tempted to reveal he had remained isolated in the parlour less because of the reason she confronted him on and more due to another, when his eyes were suddenly drawn to the reflection cast off of a flat object resting on the witch's stomach.

"Using my card, again?" he asked, somewhat incredulously.

"Consider it payment for having to play shrink for you," she then fixed him with a look from the corners of her eyes once more, "And an advance for me loaning my bed to you a second night."

The young man blinked, pondering her words a moment before both of their attentions were pulled to a knock at the door, followed swiftly by it opening, the head of the resident maid peeking in, "I'm sorry to disturb you, but Miss C.C. your pizza has arrived."

The so-named woman bent her legs to her chest and gave a twist to her hips, rolling off the couch and onto the floor - feet first - before rising to her full height, "It's about time." she muttered as she sauntered to the door, the Japanese woman stepping aside to allow her passage.

The domestic had returned to the threshold of the still open door, as if she had more to say when Lelouch's stomach rather audibly gurgled, giving both master and servant pause.

"I take it you've found your appetite, sir?" the brunette asked, successfully keeping a grin off her face.

"...It appears I have," the youth returned as he checked his watch, noting more time had passed than he'd thought, as both hands were nearly on the twelve, "Could I trouble you to prepare something light for me, Sayoko?"

"About that, sir," she started, "The young miss and I had just finished baking some cookies - it was to that end that I had originally come to find you, to see if you would be interested in partaking of some."

A small but honest smile was born on the former royal's lips, "Yes, that would be nice," he paused a moment, then added, "And another cup of coffee, while you're at it."

"Of course. Will you be wanting to be served here then, sir?" the maid inquired.

"I think I will be, yes," the young man thought for a moment, coming to a decision, "Would you see if Nunnally would join me?"

"Right away, Master Lelouch." the young woman bowed once before leaving.

The once-heir to the throne intended to make a renewed and concerted effort to be the support his sister deserved, irrespective of his own shameful feelings.

It was the answer he'd arrived at after asking himself a similar question to the one the witch had posed to him earlier, in her rather transparent effort to get him to rise out of the quagmire of cyclic thoughts he'd been stuck in.

Was one dream - and the lingering feelings from it - all it would take to derail the relationship he had with his sister? Was his bond with her that weak?

No. No, the prince incognito asserted, he refused to believe it was.

So, the former royal thought, he would just have to redouble his efforts to be a proper brother; the sort that Nunnally had wanted and needed, but he'd been too afraid of his own feelings to deliver.

And besides, he reminded himself, he'd only felt the worst of those feelings when he'd been alone with his sibling. The presence of his dutiful maid would help to ensure that _that_ wouldn't be happening.

* * *

As Sayoko re-entered the dining hall - where she'd left her youngest charge to both answer the door and make her inquiry of her young master - she came in on the tail end of a conversation between C.C. and her mistress.

"Maybe later; pizza and cookies don't exactly go together." the white garbed woman responded to a question the maid hadn't caught, but could guess at.

C.C. turned around and nearly bumped her pizza box into the Japanese woman, giving her a flat stare over the cup filled with soda that was balanced atop it as the Shinozaki stepped out of her path to the hallway, "I don't how your little miss confused me for you; you're too silent and I smell of this scrumptious dish."

Having heard the comment, Nunnally responded from the table, "Well, I thought maybe Sayoko had ordered out for once. Really, Sayoko," the young girl turned her head in the direction of the open doorway, "You should take it easy once in a while, let someone else handle the cooking."

The domestic smiled, "Are you so tired of my efforts?"

"Not at all!" the youngest Lamperouge was quick to deny, "I just thought, after all you do for brother and I already, you should have some time to yourself, too. If skimping on a meal every now and then granted you that, I - and I'm sure brother - wouldn't hold it against you."

The limette, who had made it to the threshold of the door by this point, seemed amused enough by that comment to turn around, looking from the strawberry blonde to the brunette, " _This_ workaholic servant of yours? That would be the day."

Ignoring the ageless beauty's rather accurate potshot, the Japanese woman responded to her youngest charge, "I'll be sure to take that under consideration, mistress," the girl pouted at her words as she continued, "In any case, the young master would like for you to join him in the parlour to enjoy those cookies we made." and with that, her pout evaporated - replaced by a pleasant smile.

"Miss C.C., would you want to join brother and I?" the young girl offered.

"No, that's okay; you two have at it." the woman responded before finally leaving the room, making a left that would take her in the direction of the staircases.

Likely headed to the young master's room, the Shinozaki presumed.

As she siddled up behind her mistress and took the handles of her chair to begin guiding it to where her eldest charge was awaiting them, the maid thought back briefly; though she had dismissed her ruminations on it earlier, the personal moment the young woman disrupted between her two wards had continued to eat at her; she saw it as a stain on her performance this day.

It went without saying what the relationship between stains and maids was - especially this one - so it should come as no surprise that the brunette was keen on erasing it. Fortunately, the young woman thought, her young miss had given her the opening she'd needed to accomplish that task.

As they neared the entrance to the parlour, the Japanese domestic stopped and stepped around the chair to open the door before returning to it to continue to guide it into the room.

"Hello, brother." the youngest Lamperouge greeted as she was wheeled in.

"Hey, Nunnally." her sibling responded with an upturn of the lips from where he was seated on one of the emerald chesterfield sofas.

The young Japanese woman rolled her charge close to the short side of the coffee table, so that she was seated to the right of the couch her brother was on, before stepping back to the door and linking her hands in front of her apron.

"Mistress, young master, after I bring you your refreshments, will either of you be needing anything else?"

"Hmm?" the young girl tilted her head while the lone male of the residence cocked a brow but remained silent, "No, I don't believe so. Why do you ask, Sayoko?"

"Well," the chocolate eyed woman wet her lips; asking for something from her charges went against the very nature of her being, but it was for them that she was doing so, so she endured, "I was thinking of... taking a short break, like you offered earlier." she revealed, though it was like swallowing sand, "That is, of course, with yours and the young master's permission." she quickly added.

Lelouch blinked owlishly before responding, "No... no, not at all; you do so much for Nunnally and I, Sayoko," the youth spoke with a smile that was somewhat tight for the briefest of moments, "If you'd like some time to yourself, please, go ahead and take what time you need."

The strawberry blonde gave a nod of her head as she followed up, kindly, "You see, I told you brother feels the same as I do, Sayoko. Of course you won't hear any objections from me." a small smile on her lips as well, "Take a few hours and relax - you've more than earned it."

"I see, thank you both." the so-named woman relayed with a polite bow before taking a step backward and turning around to head back out into the hall to complete her final official assignment for the interim.

The brunette paused - mentally - while she moved on autopilot back to the dining hall; she considered just what she would do with the suddenly granted stretch of time.

As she passed the dining table - upon which the cookies had been cooling - and reached the kitchen, making for the coffee caraffe on its warming plate, the Japanese maid decided her free time would be best spent in her room, which could do with some rearanging. Perhaps some dusting, while she was at it.

And maybe a bit of vacuuming.

* * *

As the maid left the sitting room to retrieve the light fare, so did a portion of the eldest Lamperouge's ease.

So, Lelouch figured, he couldn't count on the Japanese woman's presence to help foil his demons - no matter, he had intended to see this through anyway; if he couldn't control himself while simply having a snack with his sister... no, the former prince rallied, he wouldn't even entertain that possibillity.

He would _not_ be a slave to unwanted desires.

"So," he began, turning to his sibling, "You finally talked Sayoko into having a breather?"

His sister wore a tranquil smile, "Actually, brother, there wasn't much 'talking into' to be done," she bent one of her arms at the elbow upon her chair's rest, bringing her finger to her now pursed lips, "I'm not quite sure what convinced her..."

She seemed to think on it a moment while Lelouch kept his eyes on hers, rather than where her hand had momentarily directed his attention.

"Perhaps it was Miss C.C.'s gibe about her work ethic..." the youngest Lamperouge pondered aloud, before seemingly setting the issue aside, "Whatever the case, I think it was long overdue. I can't honestly remember the last time our dear maid has had any sort of leave."

The former prince briefly led himself down memory lane to try and recall any previous instances regarding the Japanese woman in which could be described as a recreational furlough.

Unsurprisingly, as the domestic in question re-entered the room carrying a tea tray laden with the promised refreshments, the young man was unable to recollect any such occasion.

The ravenette idly watched the brunette's movements as she laid his cup of coffee on a doily before him and placed the plate of cookies next to it, as his sister spoke up again, "Sayoko, could I ask for one more thing before you go?"

The so-named woman regarded her young miss as she returned to her full height from whence she had bent to deposit the edibles on the table, "Of course, mistress."

"Would you please seat me next to my brother? I think it would be easier for me to find the plate with a guiding hand." she requested with a wry smile.

The chocolate eyed woman blinked, as if not previously realizing something so obvious and made to follow through; if asked why it hadn't occured to her to do so earlier, she would've replied that she was so used to being the one to aid her young miss in eating, that where she had originally positioned her wouldn't have registered as being problematic.

So, after lifting the petite girl from her chair and carrying her briefly bridal style, she gently sat her down near the former prince.

"Thank you, Sayoko." the former princess offered.

The twenty-something rounded the table again to stand near the door, a smidgen of red dusting her cheeks, "Will that be all, mistress, young master?"

While his sister merely offered a nod, the amethyst eyed young man replied, "Yes, Sayoko, enjoy your time off."

The woman bowed and turned to exit the room, closing the door behind her as Lelouch regarded the rather aromatic bounty before him as he spoke, "Sugar cookies, eh?"

The youngest Lamperouge smiled lightly as she leaned against the back of the plush sofa, "Yes, I thought it would be a bit nostalgic," she began, "You can probably pick out the ones I made."

The young man's eyes could indeed spot the differences; the majority had pink sugar crystals and were almost perfectly round and somewhat plump, whereas a smaller number were topped in fragments of glittering yellow and were not as well-formed and thinner.

Leaning forward, he took one of the latter variety off the very top of the assortment for himself in one hand, while he palmed one of the former with his other to give to the young girl beside him.

"Mmm," he vocalized through closed lips after having taken a bite of the soft, yellow flecked sweet, chewing and swallowing before continuing, "Well, it certainly seems you've learned the difference between salt and sugar."

His sibling offered a small smile as the elder Lamperouge placed the other treat in her hands, "Yes, well I figured I could use a _little_ more guidance now," she stated with a modicum of amusement, "Back at the villa, I was so sure I knew what I was doing despite Rosalina trying to direct me otherwise," the young man briefly recalled the old servant from his childhood as he polished off his first sugary snack before his sister concluded, "How'd I do?"

"Well," the former prince began, reaching out to pluck another vaguely oblong cookie from the plate and his coffee from the table, "On the one hand, Rosie would be proud," he said, taking a sip of the bitter brew before returning it to its spot, "But on the other, she'd be miffed that you were once again 'performing duties unbefitting your station'." he concluded with a large bite of the confection.

"You know, brother, a simple 'It's delicious, Nunnally.' would've sufficed." his sister said with a mock frown before taking a small nibble of her own cookie.

"It's delicious, Nunnally." he parroted, with a small upturn of his lips; he was actually handling himself better than he'd been concerned he would - though, the young man thought, it was probably due to the fact his sibling was out of his direct line of sight and an adequate distance from him.

As if just to spite him, after a few silent but easy moments punctuated by intermittent slurps and muted chewings, the former princess leaned toward him, "I'd like to see for myself how I compare. If you're eating one of mine, could I have I bite?" she asked, her small form just close enough for the youth to pick up on the _other_ fragrance that saw fit to tantalize his nose; she smelled of lavender and a hint of vanilla.

The unwelcome thoughts he'd so-far repressed began to stir lightly, but Lelouch pushed them down as he broke off a piece of the treat he'd bitten from, holding the bit between thumb and forefinger.

The young man had intended to pass it to a waiting hand, but evidently, his sister had other ideas; as he turned to her he noticed her mouth was slightly open. It appeared she was going for the full nostalgia route, as he vaguely recalled feeding her treats this way so many years ago, during a far more innocent time.

Of course, now, the sight of his sibling waiting with her glistening crimson lips parted for the morsel to be delivered evoked _far_ from wistful feelings, as those darker thoughts were agitated once again - and this time, fought against being subdued.

His hand moved forward to set the chunk of sweetness on her lower lip, which then closed around the proffered portion - her lips brushing lightly against his fingertips before she leaned back to her previous sitting position; the momentary contact sending a shiver down his spine and sparking a fire within him.

"Hmm..." the youngest Lamperouge hummed in thought around the tidbit, chewing lightly; the former prince's eyes remained on her lips, following the movement of the flexing puffs of moist scarlet as her mouth worked the bite before she swallowed.

As the former prince watched her throat bob, he could feel his heartrate begin to slowly pick up.

"I'd say I've come a long way," Nunnally reported, swiping the tip of her pink tongue over her lip to collect missed crumbs left behind, "Wouldn't you, brother?"

The so-addressed brother's eyes had wandered a bit south of her dress's scooping neckline after the dipping of her throat and he blinked before taking his gaze off his sibling, trying to forget the unintentionally provocative series of movements and imagery as he responded, "Yes... yes, Nunnally you have," he leaned forward to the table, retrieving the mug of liquid caffeine for a long sip - as if trying to quench the growing flame within him.

Ignorant of his condition and thoughts, the former princess went on, "I could tell from handling them that mine were flatter in comparison to Sayoko's, but it's good to know they can still satisfy your demanding palate, Lelou."

The wording of her light-hearted reply combined with where his eyes had previously wandered caught the youth off guard and caused him to inhale some of the coffee he'd been drinking, leading him to a coughing fit as he hastily sat his mug back down.

"Are you alright?" the young girl asked with worry as she set aside her gnawed on cookie and leaned in again, feeling about with one arm while attempting to brace herself with the other; the former appendage found the young man's back and began to rub small circles while the latter settled on his thigh to support herself.

As one fit begin to clear up under his sister's gentle ministrations, _another_ started to arise, and due to the placement of her stabilizing hand - the former prince realized with a mixture of panic and a budding sense of thrill - she was likely quite aware of it.

"What is..?" his sibling began confusedly, her fingers brushing against him in a clueless attempt to identify what she was inadvertently touching, before her hand and entire body stilled in apparent realization.

"Oh, I... sorry..." the former princess uttered choppily, her cheeks steadily filling with color.

Any doubt as to whether she had noticed the 'growing problem' had been thoroughly gutted, the young man discerned. And yet, he considered in his own steadily muddling thoughts, she hadn't removed either of her hands from him; all he could bring to explain that was that she was likely frozen in panic.

His breathing no longer hampered by inhalated java, yet still heavier than it had been some minutes ago, he spoke while lightly closing his right hand on the delicate wrist that was on his thigh, "No, Nunnally, _I'm_ sorry." he spoke with all of the calm he didn't have as he gently removed her hand from him and set it on her lap before returning his hand to the sofa between them.

As silence filled the parlour, Lelouch fell into troubled thought as he looked dead ahead - over the back of the sofa across the table - at the shut door to the hall. He honestly didn't know what to do; he was torn between wanting to flee and wanting to gloss over the 'issue'. The young man was leaning to the latter, but he couldn't think of what to say. All the while, his heartbeat was thumping a steadily increasing staccato.

And, the elder Lamperouge realized to his dismay, the 'issue' wasn't going away; much to the opposite.

"Um..." his sibling began, her mouth opened and closed before she tried again, "Are you going... to be okay?"

The same part of him that wanted to laugh at that question wanted to cry at the root cause of it; his sister's innocence. Her innocence, which he apparently wasn't satisfied with only sullying in a dream with his disgusting thoughts.

The former prince, however, neither laughed nor cried.

He instead remained silent.

During that silence, the younger Lamperouge must've continued thinking as she spoke, "Was that... because I... was that my fault?"

The former prince didn't know how to answer that question; on the one hand, no, it wasn't her fault. He was just a sick individual who was aroused by his sister. On the other hand, she - the target of his shameful lust - had unintentionally done several things that stoked his ardor, culminating in touching him in a rather intimate location, so in a sense, it was.

Once again, he remained silent.

All throughout this embarrassing ordeal, however, the steady thumping of his heart was only growing louder in his ears; a red haze also seemed to be gathering on the very edges of his vision and he felt the slightest bit dizzy even as the 'issue' throbbed insistently.

And along with that insistence, as an accompaniment to each rushing pump of blood through his rapidly heating body, were the shameful desires whispered in his thoughts; the yearning to feel that small hand of hers on him again being one of the more chaste of the steadily increasing cacophany.

As the former royal was just becoming aware of these worrisome symptoms and contemptible runaway feelings, the strawberry blonde seemed to have come to her own conclusions, "Have you been like... Is this why you've been so distant with me today?"

The young man swallowed thickly at her sudden, accurate deduction and evidently had done so audibly enough for the former princess to take as confirmation, "Lelou, please, I just want to know what's going on with you." she didn't so much demand as she did plead.

If it weren't for the distracting, incessant pounding of his pulse in stereo, Lelouch may have tried to deny her assertion posed in the form of a question, but it was getting more and more difficult to just concentrate on thoughts that didn't involve him doing something unforgivable.

So, in his increasingly addled state, the former royal did something rather out of character for him; he spat out the first thing that came to mind, which happened to be the truth, "Nunnally, last night I had a _dream._ " just mentioning it - acknowledging it - seemed to call it forth and he closed his eyes to will it away, but only succeeded in having it replay on the backs of his eyelids.

As he tried and failed to center himself amidst progressively difficult to dismiss desires, Lelouch briefly wondered why he was getting so worked up and why he felt so dizzy, before those concerns were lost on the roiling sea of his increasingly traitorous mind.

"A dream?" she sounded somewhat confused by his sudden statement, "What kind of-"

"A sexual dream, Nunnally." he interrupted with some intensity. Again, the elder Lamperouge's mind was moving slower than his mouth and his lips were rather loose - as if by just saying something, saying anything, it would somehow alleviate the throbbing cadence in his head.

"Oh..." she dithered for a moment, "One of _those_ kinds of dreams?" the younger Lamperouge spoke somewhat timidly, worrying her lip for a moment, as if she were now hesitant to know more about the cause of his earlier reticent behaviour, "Well, that's perfectly natural-"

The former prince reopened his eyes at her attempt to overlook his admission and, despite his increasingly frayed better judgement, looked at his sister, "Would it be _perfectly_ _natural_ to have one about _you_?" he flung at her with undue heat.

He watched as she was brought up short and her face rapidly colored - her cheeks reddening to only a shade or two lighter than her cherry lips; lips that had so inflamed his current state, lips he now found it nearly impossible to look away from as they parted, "Well, I... I-"

The tumultuous maelstrom of scarcely contained lurid impulses seemed to reach critical mass - the thoughts that Lelouch had been trying to repress seemed to turn the tables on and in turn subdue his superego. In the face of his sister's suddenly shy demeanor, one lucid idea stood above the rest: the sudden urge to tease her.

As the pulsing red at the edges of his vision began to permeate the remainder of his sight, filling it with a fog that tinged everything before him a faint rose, he fired off another question, "You wanted to know what was bothering me, didn't you?"

"Yes, but I mean, well-" she sputtered but he wasn't really listening as he continued; the thumping flow of his blood in his head pounding like some kind of war drum.

"Do you want me to tell you about my dream?" he spoke with mounting fervor as he could feel her hand tense on his back.

"Well, only if you wa-" she once more tried to respond as he pressed on, relentlessly.

"Would you like to know how it began?" the former prince interrogated, more and more of his formerly restrained libido trying to tear its way out of him.

The young girl stilled, before her brows furrowed slightly and she tilted her head, briefly calling the former prince's attention to the shoulder her locks now covered, before his eyes followed the creamy skin there back to her collar bone and then along her delicate neck to her lips.

"I... well-" she tried to begin, as only _then_ the hand that had remained on his back began to slide down to the cushion behind him.

"It started," the addled young man leaned toward his sister as his left and right hands darted forward to press into the cushions to either side of her, hemming her in, "With you kissing me." he was so close to her, he could feel her quickening breath - tinted sweet by the cookie she'd nibbled - as it washed over his own lips, which were now but inches from hers.

His gaze swept up from those ruby morsels, past her heavily flushed cheeks to her eyes which - unlike in the dream that so haunted him - remained shut as her brows arched in surprise; as his heartbeat hammered in his ears like some hypnotic metronome, he was vaguely aware that the overall picture his sibling's face painted was not one of fear but... expectation?

If he were firing on all cylinders, Lelouch wouldn't have gotten any where near this close to her or considered doing what he was doing, but his dizzied and boiling mind seemed to be lead about by the nose by what he'd spent so long repressing that thoughts of reigning himself in were drowned at birth.

Instead, the eldest Lamperouge leaned in slightly closer as he breathed, "Do you want me to kiss you, Nunnally?"

The girl seemed to begin shaking lightly at his words and the part of his mind not focused with laser-like intensity on commiting the image of those two glossy dollops of vermilion to memory found her shivering similar to that of a small, frightened animal's. Needless to say, the rather visual display of her anxiety only served to fan the flames of his lust further.

His sister quavered a few seconds longer before the straw that broke the camel's back, fell.

She licked her lips.

Lelouch descended the remaining inches between them and took those succulent lips of hers that had so taunted him in a searing kiss - practically devouring them with voracity as his own pressed and moved against them; he exhaled heatedly through his nose as he began prodding the lower of the two plump puffs of flesh with the tip of his tongue.

Nunnally only stiffened briefly against him as his mouth crushed hers and his appendage knocked - demanding entrance - before her jaw went somewhat slack and her lips parted just enough for his eager, slick organ to slip into her mouth; he was like a man dying of thirst as he plundered her maw, the tip of his tongue running along her teeth and gums before pressing insistently against her own, massaging it in great, rolling movements.

Her steamy little mouth and equally petite oral muscle were positively delicious to him as he pillaged her of her moisture - she tasted as sweet as her breath smelled, and - the former prince idly mused - not only because of the confection she'd chewed, but also because of her own natural, heady flavor that seemed to blend well with the sugary remnants.

It was as he suckled on her smaller pliant appendage, that the combination of her whimpering into his mouth and the light pressure of her hand against his chest served to call forth some semblance of rationality to the young man and, just as swiftly as he had pounced, he just as suddenly pulled - and looked - away from her; his eyes widening in horror as he realized just what he'd done, while beside him, the young girl gasped lightly as her own breath came and went in heaves.

"I... I'm sorry, Nunnally," the elder Lamperouge began, his hands rising to his face before continuing into and practically tearing at his hair, "I don't know what's come over me."

The former prince made to get up - to finally turn tail and flee, to both escape the situation and to protect his sibling from the predations a significant portion of himself still yearned to subject her to - when a small hand placed itself on his thigh once more. He only partially turned in her direction in response - simultaneously expecting a litany of condemnation, yet too afraid of losing himself to his still darkly burning thoughts to face her directly to receive her rightful scorn - as he looked at her from the corners of his eyes while she leaned toward him, her moist lips trembling lightly, "Don't be sorry, Lelou..." she attempted to instead assure him between breaths, "It's okay."

Still struggling to only look at her from the corners of his eyes - to hold covetously to the meager shred of self-control he'd manage to find - the elder Lamperouge responded incredulously, "Okay? Okay?!" his volume rising slightly, despite his attempts to reign himself in, "How can you say that? After what I just-" he was cut off by the forefinger of the hand that had just seconds ago been on his thigh and was now pressed to his lips.

"Please, brother, listen to me," the younger Lamperouge persisted, finally catching her breath, "I'm not upset with you..." she seemed to think a moment, turning her head away so that it faced over her right shoulder, in the direction of the door, "You just surprised me."

Lelouch looked at her in disbelief and pulled his head back away from the finger on his lips, causing her hand to drop onto his chest as it lost its support, " 'Just surprised you?' " he repeated, "Nunnally, I just forced myself on you!" his still agitated state causing him to raise his voice again.

His sibling muttered something that he didn't quite catch over the continual low, reverberating timpani of his pulse behind his ears, and despite himself he sought clarification, "What?"

The hand on his shirt clenched, her fingers gathering the material between each digit, "I said," she started in a voice barely above a whisper, "Is it really 'forcing' if it's what I wanted you to do?"

The young man's mind - which was already beginning to slip back into the symphony of depravity that had accompanied the red wash of his sight - hung like an overheated computer at her words; apparently taking his silence as encouragement, she continued, "Lelou, you kept asking me question after question but you didn't try to hear my answers..."

Her head tilted down, so that her closed, sightless eyes were facing the cookie-laden tray on the coffee table, "You asked me if it was perfectly natural to have a... a sexual dream about me. You asked if I wanted you to kiss me," she paused, licking her lips before turning away from the table and back to her sibling, "You may have been being rhetorical, but that doesn't change that I had an answer to give."

The former prince blinked as he felt the hand that had soothed his coughing fit earlier return to his lower back - clutching at the fabric just like the hand on his chest - while the girl herself tilted her chin up slightly more so that he could clearly see her still heavily flushed visage, "Do you want to know what my answer is, Lelou?" she pulled herself across the half-cushion distance between them, shuffling her hips to ease the movement, so that her left hip met his right.

The elder Lamperouge's hard fought sliver of sanity was slipping through his metaphorical fingers like sand through a sieve as the space between himself and his sibling had been reduced to but mere inches once more and her ambrosial exhalations washed over him anew, "So long as the one dreaming about me..." the fingers on his shirt released their grip and trailed up to his neck, coming to a rest high upon his left cheek as she applied the barest of pressure, turning him so that he was fully facing her, "So long as the one who is kissing me..." she breathed as she leaned her uptilted chin to him, slowly closing the gap between them, "So long as it's you, brother, then... this is my answer."

And then their lips met again, though it was a far more chaste encounter - the kiss of an inexperienced girl trying to pour out her feelings through a clumsy yet endearing fumble.

It was also a kiss that one in Lelouch's state of mind couldn't truly appreciate, as the membranous contact served to shake his tenuous hold on his fleeting rationality and set off a new wave of burning prurience; the young man twisted himself more at the waist as his hands - which had returned to his sides and had been grasping at the soft material of the emerald seat cushion during his sibling's appeal - came forward and wrapped around the smaller girl's lithe body, pulling her chest flush to his; as his arms ensnared her, his tongue dove out from between his slightly opening lips, pressing through her own surprised but nonresistant pair and into her oral cavity once more, devastating everything within his probing appendage's reach.

The young man's fervent tongue work served to pull a low, dulcet moan directly from Nunnally's throat; she went practically limp in his grip as the hand she had pressed to his cheek seemed to lose strength and began sliding back down his neck and chest to rest on his lap, where it landed palm-first on the former prince's straining 'issue'; the sudden contact was as ether to an open flame and caused the youth to ramp up his aggressive offensive as he leaned his greater weight forward, causing them to topple and the petite girl to be pressed back into the seat of the couch.

His actions becoming more instinctual and not finding the feeling of his arms bent in such a way with his and another's weight on them pleasant, the elder Lamperouge pulled his arms out from behind his sister and began leaning back, pulling away - breaking from the extensive and messy liplock that left one rather thick bridge of silvery drool between his and her lips - until he was looming over her, his palms bracketing her head.

His eyes raked over what they could of her anatomy; her sea of strawberry blonde hair had fanned out all around her; her cheeks were flushed a rosey red; her scrumptious little scarlet lips were shiny with their combined saliva and slightly parted to fascillitate her breathing as her meager chest rose and fell in large heaves, while one of the straps of her white dress had fallen to the outside of her left shoulder.

Having denied himself bodily contact long enough to visually devour her form, the addled youth descended once more to physically repeat the process - sliding his palms up and past her head until he was resting on his elbows - crashing his ravenous lips to hers and delving his tongue back through her parted lips, earning himself a squeal of surprise that quickly turned into another elongated hum of acoustic pleasure from the former princess as her own arms left where they'd remained at her sides to reach up and around the young man, her left forearm laid flat along his back below his shoulders while the other moved up, her dainty right hand finding the back of his head where her fingers combed through his ebony locks.

Needing more, he then shifted his weight onto his right elbow as he maintained his oral onslaught with the keening girl beneath him, thus freeing up his left arm; the limb immediately acted on its newfound agency and slid back down along the couch before interposing itself between their bodies; while the former prince had been enjoying the feeling of her fingers running along his scalp, right now her arm was in the way and that just wouldn't do - he bent his left arm out and away, thus pressing his forearm to her right bicep, pushing her arm away as well. Nunnally made a slight groan of protest which he ignored as he pulled his mobile arm lower to his side and was finally able to grip her right elbow in hand, which he then pushed up, causing her arm to be straightened out above her head.

Now with that impediment dealt with, his left hand trailed down her arm - his fingertips grazing her goosepimpled flesh along the way - until he met with the cloth of her sundress beneath the pit of her arm before moving in from her side, onto his true goal; his palm pressed in on her lightly covered, meager swell of a breast, eliciting a fresh purr from within the girl's throat. While on the rather small side, she wasn't washboard flat - the young man discovered - as there was still some pliable give in the modest mound; as he massaged the smallish mass, the base of his thumb kneaded against the hard little nub positioned at its apex in tight circles, bringing some warbling variation to the petite girl's muted moans.

Practically seeing spots before his eyes, the former prince pulled away from the thorough ravaging he'd been giving her poor little mouth, trailing several more threads as he lifted his lips from hers even as she audibly whined at the sudden loss of his deft oral appendage while their lungs worked overtime to catch their breaths. He briefly looked over her face; her brows were furrowed above her closed eyes, while beneath, her cheeks were profusely flushed to the point that she appeared intoxicated - which she was, though her poison went by the name of, "Lelouuu..." she breathed before hissing as his thumb and forefinger pinched that little pebble hidden by her dress.

Having had his fill of her soft little breast - for now - Lelouch's left hand gave one last tweak to her peak - which ellicted a squeal that was hindered by her biting her lower lip - before the able limb slid down her svelte, dress veiled body; down her thin torso, along her waist, past her right hip which he gave a slight pinch, to her thigh; dragging his fingernails down along that fabric covered portion of her leg before he enclosed his fingers in a portion of the material and began attempting to pull it up - until he ran into a problem.

The way they were seated left their legs still dangling off the seat of the couch and while his sister may be able to move her hips, she couldn't do the same her legs themselves.

The young man impatiently rose up and away from the girl, whose left arm slid down and off his back to rest at her side but she otherwise made no protest as she continued to breathe heavily - apparently waiting for whatever he was going to do. Turning back in the direction of the door momentarily before bending at the waist, the former prince ran his hands down his sibling's legs, from her knees, down her shins to her ankles - which he grasped in each hand, lifted up as he once more straightened his torso, then set feet first onto the couch cushion just to the right of him, leaving the petite girl bent at the knees.

It only _then_ occurred to the elder Lamperouge, due to his addled state, that this may actually be painful for her due to the condition of her legs - which, ironically, had been the very reason he had to go about manhandling them into the position they were now in, as she couldn't physically move them herself.

His amethyst orbs swept back up her body - gamely ignoring for the moment how her dress now pooled about her upper thighs - until his gaze took in her expression; there was no hint of discomfort to be seen as she looked much the same as before, only now, her breathing wasn't quite as heavy and she had a slightly perplexed arch to her brows.

"Bro... brother?" the youngest Lamperouge exhaled, her voice coloured not only by a touch of trepidation but also expectation, "What are you going... to do to me?"

Her words served to draw the young man out of his momentary stupor and he once more fell upon her. Lelouch leaned over her similarly to how he had before; still balanced primarily on his right forearm, though now he was also leaning partially on his right hip, just to the outside of her left thigh.

Her tempting cherry lips were once more assailed as he crushed his own to them; the former princess was again caught off guard but made no sign of displeasure - much to the opposite - as her arms raised from the seat of the sofa to wrap loosely around his neck in an effort to further deepen their passionate embrace, leaking little mewls around his invading tongue as it rampaged wetly in her mouth.

As he suckled her smaller oral muscle between his lips and greedily drank her intoxicating saliva, his left hand once more clawed its way down her form - from just under her right arm, following her side along her slender waist and down to just below her hip, where he gripped the supple flesh of her rump.

She whimpered into his mouth as he worked the springy meat of her tush - the former prince idly observed that she had more to work with below than above, though it didn't exceed a handful - before his fingers trailed up the outside of her upward angled right thigh to just shy of her knee until they again descended parallel to their prior route, gliding back down along the inside for the return trip.

The eldest Lamperouge could feel the heat practically radiating from his destination before he actually pushed past the bunched skirt of her dress to reach her soaked, panty clad nexus. Even before he touched the humid, satiny fabric, his index through ring fingers had been running afoul of her slippery secretions; now, upon reaching the source, he could quite easily determine that his sister's underwear was thoroughly drenched.

He disengaged from the former princess's exhaustively dominated mouth, dragging his teeth along the tip of her little tongue before pulling away enough from her face so that he could properly appreciate her reactions to what he was about to do to her.

As Nunnally panted rather wantonly from the extended thrashing her little pink organ received, she had to bite her lower lip and breathe through her nose as the young man suddenly palmed her sex and gave her inflamed womanhood a squeeze before he began rubbing the entire sopping area back and forth, further spreading around the already profuse warm sogginess.

Apparently, the former princess had been riding dangerously close to the edge of ecstasy, as her body stiffened before convulsing just below the waist.

"Le-Lelou... mmmm!" as her back arched slightly off the cushions of the sofa, her center bucked against the enterprising flat of his hand and the former prince could feel a hot, fresh rush of wetness coat his already slick palm. The slightly sticky dousing his hand received did not extinguish the young man's burning need - much the opposite, it was oil to the inferno of his lust.

As her hips continued to twitch in small starts and stops and her exhalations were accentuated by little whimpers, the youth pulled up away from her once more, his right congregation of digits now quickly trailing down her same side to her hip while his left reluctantly departed her spasming nexus to alight the hip opposite; hiking her dress up slightly more, the young man's fingers found the only portion of her panties that weren't soaked through - the thin straps of her waistband, which they then slipped and hooked under before beginning to pull back toward him, down and then up her bent legs.

He had to sit up further to fully remove the soggy article - which he idly remarked, aside from the white ribbon cresting the top, was a robin's egg blue (well, the straps were, but the crotch portion had been stained a deep sky by her plentiful fluids) - having to straighten her legs momentarily to allow the garment to clear her adorable little feet, the right of which lost a sandal in the process of the action; as the saturated, crumpled once-triangle of fabric passed by his head in his successful effort to remove it from his sibling's raised tootsies, he was made privy to the debilitatingly rousing sweet musky scent of her juices, before he returned her feet to the cushion, bending her legs once more at the knee as he fell back onto his right elbow beside her as he loomed over her again.

The elder Lamperouge grasped the right hand of the panting young girl - which had been fisting the cushion underneath her side - and brought it to his own constrained and unresolved 'issue'; her fingers froze only momentarily before they instinctively pulled and rubbed the trouser clad length. Having set her little porcelain paw to the task 'at hand', his own departed her now active wrist to alight on the bunches of her hiked dress above her pelvis, before sliding down along the ruffled material - fingers first - to the sweltering, dampened skin just north of her practically steamy sex.

His phalanges descended the final stretch to the younger Lamperouge's hot, moist outer folds - his fore and middle fingers tracing an oblong circle around her slightly twitching, puffy vulva before coming to a stop just beneath her dripping chasm, where he turned his hand palm up and folded his index finger back and drove his middle right on into her tight, twitching tunnel.

Her gushing sleave of muscle bore down on his intrepid finger from all sides as he stirred it around in small circles, elliciting a practically crooning series of whimpers from her rosey upper lips. Withdrawing to just the tip of his digit, he unfurled his forefinger once more and delved right back into the searing embrace of her lightly quaking, silken walls; having gone in as deep as he could work his phalanges, he pulled them back out to the first knuckle, before sheathing them in her wet heat once more. The young man continued pumping in quick, slurping thrusts - the palm of his hand lightly slapping the outer lips of her sex at the terminus of every plunge, until he finally began crooking his fingers at the second knuckle with every retreating motion, his finger tips scraping along a very particular spot with obvious results.

Nunnally's hand on his 'issue' stilled in its own movements upon the new configuration of his intrusions into her sweltering sex, "Nnnmmmm!" she moaned through pouting, pursed lips as she raised her chin before suddenly inhaling deeply through her nostrils as she bucked against his curled knuckles, washing his questing digits and their kin in a fresh splash of her practically scalding juices.

The young girl's excited and spasmodically squeezing passage served to once more ratchet up the intensity of the former prince's blazing lust as he pulled free of her hungry honey pot and dove - lips first - down to her own glossy vermilion morsels, consuming them in another breath-stealing snog even as his hands ventured back up her body to her shoulders - which he gripped - and began pulling up with him as he rose so that he was sitting, back straight with her upper body slumping against his.

Releasing her lips from his possessive embrace, his left hand came away from her and alighted on his own lap as he began to work at the suddenly frustrating inventions known as 'the button' and 'the zipper', while his right remained on the girl's upper back to keep her upright; Nunnally's hand - though it had stilled during her second observed climax - had remained practically bonded midway along the length of his concealed 'issue' and was now once more rubbing at it in slow, steady kneadings while her brother went to war with his trouser's fastenings.

Finally opening the front of his pants, he hooked his left hand's digits in both the waistbands of them and his boxers and pushed them down while raising himself slightly from the couch to aid in their unecumberance; his sister, apparently realizing what the young man was trying to do, ceased her ministrations and grasped at what material of his britches she could and tugged weakly, as they were brought clear of his knees, freeing his aggravatingly aroused member to the contrastingly cool open air.

Lelouch's boiling mind was in no more mood for playing with his sister's body, as only one thought conquered the turbulent seas of his consciousness: he _had_ to be inside her, _now._ To that end, his left hand rose back up to clasp her right shoulder while his right slunk down from her back to skirt along her waist and left hip to dive between the sofa cushion and her unmolested cheek below, causing her to squeak in surprise as he grasped its springy flesh. His hands thus placed, he turned her so that she was fully facing the couch and doorway across the table once more - causing her legs to drag along the seat of the couch in the process until they fell unceremoniously over the edge and back onto the carpeted floor below with muted flop.

If the former princess felt pain from any of these forceful reorientations, she made no outward sign of it as her fingernails lightly scraped along the skin of the elder Lamperouge's right thigh. That was, until she felt both his hands reposition themselves so they grasped each of side of her waist and she winced slightly with the force exerted as they began to lift and slide her onto his lap. When his palms had finally released her sides and her lateral movement had ceased, her pliant cheeks were partially enclosing his throbbing, turgid maleness as it pressed against her dress clad lower back.

Using muscles that were rather underdeveloped would usually be a tiring task, but right now, the young man was singularly driven as his hands slid down further upon his sister's panting and lightly shivering form until they rested between his thighs and hers, palms up, as he grasped her creamy skin and lifted once again - her rump rising up against the sides and underside of his length in an agonizingly slow, one way stroke as he finally brought her high enough that she cleared his very tip.

He then began to lower her with shaky arms - to bury himself within her - but his length was being uncooperative as it instead slid along the slick-and-smooth cleft of her sex and ended up out in front of her. He growled at the indignity of it and begain raising her up again and - this time - found some aid in the form of the fingers of her dainty right hand alight upon and attempt to encircle the upper third of his shaft; as she redirected his tip just so, the former prince once more began lowering her.

Lelouch gritted his teeth while his sister moaned sweetly through her own tightly pursed lips as he felt himself begin to spear into and spread her tight, drooling channel, which continued to swallow him deeper and deeper within its velvety inner pleats.

Had the young man been of more sound mind at the moment, he may have found it odd that his entry into her was, aside from being a ludicrously narrow fit, relatively smooth and unimpeded. Then again, if he had been of sound mind, he likely wouldn't be committing said entry.

Still, as he finally sank the last few inches into her sweltering sex - and her rear had pressed flush to his thighs - the former prince released the breath he'd been holding; the exhalation served to stir the strawberry blonde waterfall before him and expose the pale flesh of the back of her neck while causing her to shiver; without really thinking - which wasn't saying much at this point - the young man closed the few inches to that appetizing tidbit and latched his lips to it, kissing and suckling at her skin while he tried to recuperate from more willing exercise than he'd had in some years.

Nunnally leaned her head back and brought her left hand over her shoulder as best she could to cradle his head, giving him encouraging mewls even as the walls of her slick, searing sheath twitched, bore down on and drooled around his length, needily.

Having gotten his second wind despite devoting much needed lung capacity to leaving his mark upon her, the elder Lamperouge pulled his lips from her and flexed his fingers against the undersides of her milky thighs before affirming his grip and beginning to lift her with his arms even as he pressed his own hips more deeply into the soft sofa cushion; when he'd brought his sibling about halfway up his length, he allowed her to slide back down while simultaneously driving himself up into her from beneath, hilting himself in her anew with a slap and drawing both a squelch from their point of union and a hissing whimper from the young girl atop him.

Immediately upon the meeting of their hips, the young man hauled his petite sister and her writhing, grasping box back up along his pulsating member to the point he was most comfortable hefting her to before dropping her right back down, thrusting into her agonizingly constricting, moist passage in opposing ascension.

He continued this exhausting cycle - raising her comparitively light form up along his manhood while drawing himself out of her greedy, clenching tunnel, before reversing the process - fully concentrating on trying to unleash the churning heat just south of his throbbing shaft for a few shy of fifteen more repetitions before his arms gave up the ghost; unable to lift her past just two thirds up his length any longer, he instead held her at that heighth as he began focusing solely on pulling out of her slick chasm as much as he could before impaling her from below in rapid, upstrokes.

The former princess was bounced about by his suddenly intense, rapid pounding as she loosed a practically continuous melodic purr from within her throat; as her left hand left the back of his head, the elder Lamperouge could feel her lean forward slightly - her tight, little writhing honey pot shifting as she did - and felt the couch dip in a bit further between his legs as she stabilized herself by grasping the edge of the cushion beneath them with her hands.

"Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mmm!" she keened through tightly pursed lips as he felt her start trying to drive herself back against him by pushing off the seat with her hands and grinding her hips in reversing thrusts.

On every quick withdrawal from within her covetous depths, her sopping, silken inner muscles would grip at his shaft as if her life depended on it, not letting even a single inch pass between them without practically choking his length up to the crown and upon every return those same walls would flutter and squirm anew, only to repeat the process as he pulled away.

The parlour was filled with the sounds of wet, frantically colliding flesh and the constant subdued, honeyed mewling of one very aroused Nunnally Lamperouge; it wasn't much longer until something had to give.

Lelouch's stamina, which felt boundless in his red-haze filled state, finally caught up to him as he could feel that telltale throbbing twitch start up from the very base of his organ and he acted as his several hundred millennia's worth of ingrained genetic instinct demanded; his hands slipped further up the insides of his sister's thighs - slickened by both sweat and her own copious secretions - and with a grunt, gripped them tightly, pulling them down against his pelvis as securely as he could, burying his length deeply within her as he repeatedly exploded his churning loins into her in forceful, pulsing throbs.

"NnnmmmMMMM!" the strawberry blonde practically screamed through her hand as she brought it up to her lips while her stuffed, velvety passage spasmodically crushed his erupting organ in the throes of her own powerful orgasm.

As both siblings struggled to catch their breaths in shallow, rapid heaves, and the elder Lamperouge could idly feel her honey pot writhe about his gradually softening member in sequential contractions - as if trying to wring out every last drop of his hard-fought climax - the pervasive rosey fog began to steadily drift away, and the full ramifications of what he'd just done began to slowly sink in.

The light in the room suddenly seemed far too bright as the first warning signs of a migraine started asserting themselves and he shut his eyes as he fell into thought. It had to be attributed to post-coital bliss, the young man reflected, that he could only think of one, obvious thing.

He had just had mind-blowing sex with his sister.

And with that thought, a realization; one he knew that if he were to share with the Lelouch of just an hour ago, his past self would undoubtedly try to kill his present self for having reached.

 _He enjoyed every minute of it._

¨`-.-´¨

I almost can't believe how well that worked out!

Though, I really suppose I should be thanking that servile maid of ours. Time and again, she comes through for me.

I need a way to deliver the 'extra kick' my Beloved brother needed, so I float the idea of baking cookies.

She immediately jumps on board.

I need her out of my room so I could retrieve the 'extra kick' from among the rest of my lovely little 'helpers'.

She once again hopped to by leaving me alone for the sake of privacy on the john.

I need a way to dose one of the cookies I baked and...

Well, the timely pizza arrival wasn't so much my doing, so I guess I owe the raving green haired sloth one for the assist. Still, it got her out of the dining room long enough for me to add that powderized 'extra kick', toss the baggy I'd stashed in my panties in the rubbish bin and return to my seat with nobody the wiser.

Still, getting the maid to make herself scarce when it came time for brother and I to have our _treats_ was a bit far less involved than I had anticipated.

My proddings of the maid to get her to take some time off have never actually been successful in the past. When I want some alone time, I have to 'ask rather insistently', which is to say, make it an order. I fully planned on having to ask her to take me up to the restroom again after the cookies were served and then 'ask rather insistently' - once out of the room - to give my Beloved brother and I some privacy to 'work through our grief'.

Whatever the case, it's not that it matters now, now that things have moved forward in my designs.

Seven orgasms; that's how many my Beloved gave me! The first was when He kissed me of His own volition and the rest, well...

I never realized how vigorous a lover my dear brother would be! I really should have, though; He and I are both very passionate people.

Still, He really did catch me off guard there after his little wheezing fit at the start; sure, I used the oppurtunity to check and see if He was _responding_ to the 'extra kick' yet - which He most DEFINITELY was - but I honestly thought He may have been choking or worse. After all, heart attacks can start off like a case of coughing and that 'extra kick' is pretty labor intensive on the heart.

It's street name isn't 'Ticker Tickler' without reason. The last thing I needed was for Him to have irregular palpitations just trying to get His blood to rapidly flow to where I needed it to.

And what an insidious drug it is; it's like a mule kick to the libido, with the added bonus of loss of inhibitions. It strains the heart a bit, yes, but only until certain levels of dopamine and a few key hormones are released to counteract the effects of the drug. The very same levels and hormones that coincide with male orgasm.

In short, it's a designer aphrodesiac that's good for 'one shot' but works best if the user already bears attraction to those they are around while under the influence - hence the loss of inhibitions angle.

Which is even more flattering for me because that just means I have what it takes to get His engine going.

Well, not that there was any doubt there; we ARE meant to be together.

And, stacking the deck last night by giving Him an eyefull of all I have certainly didn't hurt.

Anyway, I think I've gloated and digressed enough; it's time to focus on what needs to happen now.

Cleaning up after our 'first time' shoudn't be too difficult. Gotta love tissues!

Hmm... my dear brother may come to wonder why I didn't bleed for my 'first time', but that's an easily resolved dilemma as well. Not every girl is born with a hymen, after all. But that's only if He's tactless enough to ask.

Oh well, even if He is, I'll forgive Him and tell Him what He needs to hear.

I will have to make sure to dab enough of my Beloved's seed, but I've been clamping on Him rather tightly since He filled me up and I'm rather confident I can keep from dripping long enough to wipe up the worst of it.

Thank goodness for kegel exercises! I'm sure He is rather thankful, too...

Anyway, I'll just ask Him if He would dispose of those; He could easily pocket them and toss them in His waste bin up in His room and that would be that.

Then, it's just getting the maid to aid me in another quick shower to clean up after the remnants of another attack of the 'hypersensitivity issues'.

She'll come down and clean up the sofa as well, once I mention that it may have been a particularly messy episode.

Yes, that should just about settle things.

For now.

This, after all, is only the beginning my Beloved Lelou. I will make you realize just how much you love me.

As I try desperately to calm my breathing, I cannot help but let my mask slip slightly as I open my eyes as if to witness our bright future first hand...

Instead, my eyes widen as just past the sofa in front of me, I witness the door to the hall in the process of closing silently.

* * *

 **The Thin Line End Part 3**

 **Ending Notes:**

 **So, things move forward for the little obsessive, but, they've been spotted. But by whom? And how will that effect things going forward?**

 **You'll just have to wait and see...**

 **A fair warning, readers, this story will likely only be updated after my other fic receives its own overdue latest chapter.**

 **Well, unless unforeseen inspiration strikes. My muse is fickle like that, but I doubt mine is an exception to the rule.**

 **Anyway,**

 **Thank you for reading.**

EDIT 2/20/2018 - Please reference my bio regarding my stories as updates are pending.


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